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THE  LOEB  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY 

EDITED    BY 
T.    E.    PAGE,    LITT.D. 

CAPPS,  PH.D.,  LL.D.  W.  H.  D.  ROUSE,  utt.d. 


CICEKO 
DE    OFFICIIS 


I 


M.TULLIUS   CICERO. 
rROMTHE  JAMES  LO£B  COLLECTION . 


^y^ 


CICERO 

DE   OFFICIIS 

WITH  AN  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION  BY 
WALTER  MILLER 

PBOFESSOR  OF  LATIN  IN  IHE  UNIVERSITY  OF  MISSOUEI 


LONDON  :  WILLIAM  HEINEMANN  LTD 
NEW  YORK  :  G.  R  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

MCMXXVIII 


IV5 


rhst  printed  1913 
Rtprinted  1921,  1928 


PrxMtdin  Oreat  Brttain  by  Woods  and  Soni,  Lld.,  LonJon,  M.  I 


CONTENTS 

Introduction 

Fage  ix 

Bibliography 

xiii 

Bookl 

1 

Book  11 

167 

Book  III 

269 

Index 

405 

INTRODUCTION 

In  the  de  Officiis  we  have,  save  for  the  latter 
PhiUppicSj  the  great  orator's  last  contribution  to 
literature.  The  last,  sad,  troubled  years  of  his  busj"^ 
life  could  not  be  given  to  his  profession;  and  he 
turned  his  never-resting  thoughts  to  the  second  love 
of  his  student  days  and  made  Greek  philosophy  a 
possibihty  for  Roman  readers.  The  senate  had  been 
abohshed;  the  courts  had  been  closed.  His  occupa- 
tion  was  gone ;  but  Cicero  could  not  surrender  himself 
to  idleness.  In  those  days  of  distraction  (46-43  b.c.) 
he  produced  for  pubhcation  almost  as  much  as  in  all 
his  years  of  active  life. 

The  liberators  had  been  able  to  remove  the  tyrant, 
but  they  could  not  restore  the  republic.  Cicero's 
own  hfe  was  in  danger  from  the  fury  of  mad  Antony 
and  he  left  Rome  about  the  end  of  March^  44  b.c. 
He  dared  not  even  stop  permanently  in  any  one  of 
his  various  country  estates,  but,  wretched^  wandered 
from  one  of  his  villas  to  another  nearly  all  the  sum- 
mer  and  autumn  through.  He  would  not  suffer 
himself  to  become  a  prey  to  his  overwhelming  sorrow 
at  the  death  of  the  repubhc  and  the  final  crushing 
of  the  hopes  that  had  risen  with  Caesar's  downfall, 
but  worked  at  the  highest  tension  on  his  philosophi- 
cal  studies. 

The  Romans  were  not  philosophical.  In  l6l  b.c. 
the  senate  passed  a  decree  excluding  all  philosophers 
and  teachers  of  rhetoric  from  the  city.  They  had  no 
taste  for  philosophical  speculation,  in  which  the 
Greeks  were  the  world's  masters.  Thej'  were  in- 
tenselyjnarrowlypractical.  And  Cicerowas  thorough- 


INTRODUCTION 

ly  lloman.  As  a  studeiit  in  a  Greek  university  he 
had  had  to  study  philosophy.  His  mind  was  broad 
enough  and  his  soul  great  enough  to  give  him  a  joy 
iii  foUowing  after  the  mighty  masters,  Socrates,  Plato, 
Zeno,  Cleanthes,  Aristotle,Theophrastus,andtherest. 
But  he  pursued  his  study  of  it,  hke  a  Roman,  from  a 
practical"  motive — to  promote  thereby  his  poAver 
^  an  orator  and  to  augment  his  success  and  happi- 
ness  in  lifc.  To  him  Ihe  goal  of  pliilosoph^'  was  not 
primarily  to  know  but  to  do.  Its  end  was  to  point 
out  the  course  of  conduct  that  would  lead  to  succcss 
and  happiness.  The  only  side  of  philosophy,  there- 
fore,  that  could  make  much  appeal  to  the  Roman 
mind  was  ethics;  pure  science  could  have  httle 
meaning  for  the  practical  Roman ;  metaphysics  might 
supplement  ethics  and  rehgion,  without  which  true 
happiness  was  felt  to  be  impossible. 

Philosophical  study  had  its  place,  therefore,  and 
the  most  important  department  of  philosophy  was 
ethics.  The  treatise  on  Moral  Duties  has  the  very 
practical  purpose  of  giving  a  practical  discussion  of 
the  basic  principles  of  Moral  Duty  and  practical 
rules  for  personal  conduct. 

As  a  philosopher,  if  we  may  so  stretch  the  term  as 
to  include  him,  Cicero  avows  himself  an  adherent  of 
the  New  Academy  and  a  disciple  of  Carneades.  He 
had  tried  Epicureanism  under  Phaedrus  and  Zeno, 
Stoicism  under  Diodotus  and  Posidonius ;  but  Philo 
of  Larissa  converted  him  to  the  New  Academy. 

Scepticism  declared  the  attainment  of  absolute 
knowledge  impossible.  But  there  is  the  easily  obtain- 
able  golden  mean  of  the  probable ;  and  that  appealed 
to  the  practical  Roman.  It  appealed  especially  to 
Ciccro;  and  the  same  indccision  that  had  been  hvs 

X 


INTRODUCTION 

bane  in  political  life  naturally  led  him  first  to  scep- 
ticism,  then  to  eclecticism,  where  his  choice  is 
dictated  by  his  bias  for  the  practical  and  his  scepti- 
cismitself  disappears  from  view.  Andwhile  Antiochus, 
the  eclectic  Academician  of  Athens,  and  Posidonius, 
the  eclectic  Stoic  of  Rhodes,  seem  to  have  had  the 
strongest  influcnce  upon  him,  he  draws  at  his  own 
discretion  from  the  founts  of  Stoics,  Peripatetics,  and 
Academicians  aHke;  he  has  only  contempt  for  tlie 
Epicureans,  Cynics,  and  Cyrenaics.  But  the  more  he 
studied  and  hved,  the  more  of  a  Stoic  in  ethics  he 
became. 

The  cap-sheaf  of  Cicero's  ethical  studies  is  the 
treatise  on  the  Moral  Duties.  It  takes  the  form  of  a 
lctter  addressed  to  his  son  Marcus  (see  Index),  at  this 
time  a  youth  of  twenty-one,  pursuing  his  university 
studies  in  the  Peripatetic  school  of  Cratippus  in 
Athens,  and  sowing  for  what  promised  to  be  an 
abundant  crop  of  wild  oats.  This  situation  gives 
force  and  definiteness  to  the  practical  tendencies  of 
the  father's  ethical  teachings.  And  yet,  be  it  ob- 
served,  that  same  father  is  not  without  censure  for 
contributing  to  his  son's  extravagant  and  riotous 
living  by  giving  him  an  allowance  of  nearly  £870  a 
year. 

Our  Roman  makes  no  pretensions  to  originahty 
in  philosophic  thinking.  He  is  a  follower — an  ex- 
positor — of  the  Greeks.  As  the  basis  of  his  discussion 
of  the  Moral  Duties  he  takes  the  Stoic  Panaetius  of 
Rhodes  (see  Index),  Uepl  Kad-qKovTo<s,  drawing  also 
from  many  other  sources,  but  following  liim  more  or 
less  closely  in  Books  I  and  II ;  Book  III  is  more  in- 
dependent  and  much  inferior.  He  is  usually  super- 
ficial    and    not   always    clear.      He    translates   and 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 

paraphrases  Greek  philosophy,  weaving  in  illustra- 
tions  from  Roman  history  and  suggestioiis  of  Roman 
mould  in  a  form  intended  to  make  it,  if  not  popular, 
at  least  comprehensible,  to  the  Roman  mind.  How 
well  he  succeeded  is  evidenced  by  the  comparative 
receptivity  of  Roman  soil  prepared  by  Stoic  doctrine 
for  the  teachings  of  Christianity.  Indeed,  Antliony 
Trollope  labels  our  author  the  Pagan  Christian." 
"You  would  fancy  sometimes/'  says  Petrarch,  it 
is  not  a  Pagan  philosopher  but  a  Christian  apostle 
who  is  speaking."  No  less  an  authority  than 
Frederick  the  Great  has  called  our  book  the  best 
work  on  morals  that  has  been  or  can  be  written." 
Cicero  himself  looked  upon  it  as  his  masterpiece. 

It  has  its  strength  and  its  weakness — its  sane 
common  sense  and  noble  patriotism,  its  self-conceit 
and  partisan  poHtics;  it  has  the  master's  brilhant 
style,  but  it  is  full  of  repetitions  and  rhetorical 
flourishes,  and  it  fails  often  in  logical  order  and 
power ;  it  rings  true  in  its  moral  tone,  but  it  shows 
in  what  haste  and  distraction  it  was  composed;  for 
it  was  not  written  as  a  contribution  to  close  scientific 
thinking;  it  was  written  as  a  means  of  occupation 
and  diversion. 


xu 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  following  works  ai*e  quoted  in  the  critical 
notes : — 

MSS.  A  =  codex  Ambrosianm.    Milan.   lOth  century, 
B  =  codex  Bambergensis.  Hamburg.   1  Oth  cen- 

tury. 
H  =  codex  Herbipolitafius.  Wiirzburg.   1  Oth  cen- 

tury. 
Ij  =  codex  Harleianus.   London.   9th  century. 
a  b  =  codices  Bernenses.  Bern.   1  Oth  century. 
c  =  codex  Bemensis,  Bern.   1 3tli  century. 
p  =  codex  Palatinus,   Rome.    12th  century. 

Editio  Princeps :  The  first  edition  of  the  de  OJJIciis 
was  from  the  press  of  Sweynheim  and  Pannartz 
at  the  Monastery  of  Subiaco ;  possibly  the  edi- 
tion  published  by  Fust  and  Schoffer  at  Mainz  is 
a  little  older.  Both  appeared  in  1465.  The 
latter  was  the  first  to  print  the  Greek  words  in 
Greek  type.  The  de  Officiis  is,  therefore,  the 
fii*st  classical  book  to  be  issued  from  a  printing 
press,  witli  the  possible  exception  of  Lactantius 
and  Cicero's  de  Oratore  which  bear  the  more 
exact  date  of  October  30,  14-65,  and  were  like- 
wise  issued  from  the  Monastery  press  at  Subiaco. 

Baiter  Sf  Kayser:  M.  TulHi  Ciceronis  opera  quae  su- 
persunt  omnia.     Lipsiae,  I86O-69. 

Beier:  M.  TulUi  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  libri  tres  .  .  . 
cum  commentariis  editi  a  Carolo  Beiero.  Lipsiae, 
1820. 

Erasmus:        ]M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  Officia,  dihgenter 

Melanchthon :  f     restituta.     Ejusdem  de  Amicitia  et 

xiii 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Senectute    dialogi  .  .  ,  :     cum    annotationibun 

Erasmi  et  P.  Melanchthonis.   Parisiis,  ]  5SS. 
Ed. :   M.    TulUi    Ciceronis   Scripta  quae  manserunt 

omnia  recognovit  C.  F.  W.  Miiller.  Teubncr: 

Lipsiae,  1 879.    This  edition  is  the  basis  of  the 

text  of  the  present  volume. 
Emesti:    M.    TulHi    Ciceronis    opera   ex    recensione 

novissima.    J.  A.  Ernesti ;  cum  eiusdem  notis, 

et  clave  Ciceroniana.     Editio  prima  Americana, 

Bostoniae,  1815-16. 
Facciolati:  M.  TulUi  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  Ubri  tres,  de 

Senectutc,   de  Amicitia,  de  Somnio  Scipionis, 

et  Paradoxa.  Accedit  Q.  fratins  commentariolum 

petitionis.    Ex  recensione  J.  Facciolati.  Venc- 

tiis,  1747. 
Fleckeisen,  Alf. :  Kritische  Miscellen.   Dresden,  1864, 
Gernhard:   M.  TuUii  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  Ubri  tres. 

Rec.  et  schoUis  lac.  Facciolati  suisque  animad- 

versionibus  instruxit  Aug.  G.  Gernhard.  Lipsiae, 

1811. 
Graevius :  M.  TulUi  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  Ubri  tres ; ,  .  . 

de    Senectute  ;  .  .  .    de    Amicitia;    Paradoxa; 

Somnium  Scipionis ;  ex  recen^ione  J.  G.  Graevii. 

Amstelodami,  1680. 
Gtdiehnus :\M.   Tullii   Ciceronis   opera   omnia    quae 
Gruler:       j      extant    .   .   ,     emendata    studio    .   .  . 

J,  GuUelmi  et  J.  Gruteri.    Hamburgi,  1618-19. 
Ileine,  Otto:  M.  TuUii  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  ad  Mar- 

cum  FiUum  Libri  tres.  6te  Aufl.   Berlin,  188.5. 
Heusinger:  M.  TuUii  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  Ubri  tres 

,  ,  ,  recensuit  adjectisque  J.  M.  Heusingeri  et 

suis    annotationibus   ,  .  .    editurus    erat   J.    F, 

Heusinger.    (Edited  by  C.  Heusinger.)    Bruns- 

vigae,  1783, 

xiv 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hotden :  M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  libri  tres,  with 
Introduction,  Analysis  and  Commentary  by 
Herbert  Ashton  Holden.  7th  Edition.  Cam- 
bridge,  1891.  To  his  full  notes  the  translator 
is  indebted  for  many  a  word  and  phrase. 

Klotz:  M.  Tulhi  Ciceronis  Scripta  quae  manserunt 
omnia.  Recognovit  Reinholdus  Klotz.  Lipsiae^ 
1850-57,  1869-74. 

Lamhinus :  M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  opera  omnia  quae  ex- 
tant,  a  D.  Lambino  .  .  .  ex  codicibus  manu- 
scriptis  emendata  et  aucta  .  .  .  Lutetiao, 
1566-84. 

Lange:  M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  Hb.  III.  Cato 
Major  vel  de  Senectute  .  .  .  Laelius  vel  de  Ami- 
citia  .  .  .  Paradoxa  Stoicorum  sex,  Somnium 
Scipionis  .  .  .  opera  C.  Langii  recogniti  .  .  . 
ejusdem  in  hosce  .  .  .  libros  annobvtiones.  Cum 
annotationibus P.  Manutii,  etc.  Antverpiae,  1 568. 

Lund:  De  emendandis  Cicei'onis  libris  de  Officiis 
observationes  criticae.  Scripsit  G.  F.  G.  Lund. 
Kopenhagen,  1848. 

Manutius:  M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  Officiorum  Hbri  tres: 

Cato  Maior,  vel  de  Senectute:   Laehus,  vel  de 

Amicitia:   Paradoxa  Stoicorum  sex  .  .  .  additae 

sunt  .  .  .  variae  lectiones,  (Edited  by  P.  Manu- 

zio.)     P.  Manutius:  Venetiis,  1541. 

Muller,  C.  F.    W.:   M.   Tulhi   Ciceronis   de   Officiis 

libri     III.     Fiir    den    Schulgebrauch    erklart. 

Leipzig,  1882. 

Muretus:  M.  Antoni  Mureti  SchoHa  in  Cic.  officia. 

Mureti  opera  ed.  Ruhnken.     Lugd.  Bat.,  1879- 

Orelli:  |  M.  Tulhi  Ciceronis  opera  quae  supersunt 

Baiier:  \      omnia,  ac  deperditorum  fragmenta  .  .  . 

Halm :  )       Edidit  J.  C.  Orellius  (M.  Tulhi  Ciceronis 

XV 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Scholiastae.  C.  M.  Victorinus,  Rufinus^  C.  Julius 
Victor,  Boethius,  Favonius  Eulogius,  Asconius 
PedianuSj  Scholia  Bobiensia,  Scholiasta  Grono- 
vianus,  Ediderunt  J.  C.  OrelHus  et  J.  G.  Baiter. 
Turici,  1826-38).  Ed.  2.  Opus  morte  Orellii 
interruptum  contin.  J.  G.  Baiterus  et  C.  Halmius, 
1845-62. 

Pearce:  M.  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  ad  Marcum  filium 
libri  tres.  Notis  illustravit  et  .  .  .  emendavit 
Z.  Pearce.     Londini,  1745. 

Stuerenburg :  M.  Tullii  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  hbri  III. 
Recensuit  R.  Stuerenburg.  Accedit  Commenta- 
rius.     Lipsiae,  1843. 

Unger:  M.  TulHi  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  hbri  III. 
Erklart  v.  G.  F.  Unger.     Leipzig,  1852. 

Victorius,  P. :  M.  Tulhi  Ciceronis  opera,  omnium 
quae  hactenus  excusa  sunt  castigatissima,  nunc 
primum  in  lucem  edita.  4  tom.  Venetiis, 
1532-34-36. 

Zumpt :  M.  Tulhi  Ciceronis  de  Officiis  libri  tres  cum 
selectis  J.  M.  et  J.  F.  Heusingerorum  suisque 
notis.  Scholarum  in  usum  iterum  edidit  Car. 
Tim.  Zumptius.     Brunsvigae,  1849. 


ztI 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

BOOK  I 

MORAL  GOODNESS 


LIBER  PRIMUS 

I.  Quamquam  te^  Marce  filij  annum  iam  audientem 
Cratippum,  idque  AtheniSj  abundare  oportet  prae- 
ceptis  institutisque  philosophiae  propter  summam  et 
doctoris  auctoritatem  et  urbis,  quorum  alter  te  scien- 
tia  augere  potest,  altera  exemphs,  tamen,  ut  ipse  ad 
meam  utihtatem  semper  cum  Graecis  Latina  coniunxi 
neque  id  in  philosophia  solum,  sed  etiam  in  dicendi 
exercitatione  feci,  idem  tibi  censeo  faciendum,  ut  par 
sis  in  utriusque  orationis  facultate.  Quam  quidem 
ad  rem  nos,  ut  videmur,  magnum  attuhmus  adiumen- 
tum  hominibus  nostris,  ut  non  modo  Graecarum 
htterarum  rudes,  sed  etiam  docti  ahquantum  se 
arbitrentur  adeptos  et  ad  dicendum^  et  ad  iudican- 
dum. 

Quam  ob  rem  disces  tu  quidem  a  principe  huius 
aetatis  philosophorum,  et  disces,  quam  diu  voles ;  tam 
diu  autem  velle  debebis,  quoad  te,  quantum  proficias, 
non  paenitebit ;  sed  tamen  nostra  legens  non  multum 
a  Peripateticis  dissidentia,  quoniam  utrique  Socratici 
et  Platonici  volumus  esse,  de  rebus  ipsis  utere  tuo 
iudicio  (nihil  enim  impedio),  orationem  autem  Lati- 

^dicendum    Edd.j   discendum   MSS.   (i.e.   acquisition  of 
learning^). 

2 


BOOK  I 

1.  My  dear  son  Marcus,  you  have  now  been  study-  introducHon: 
iug  a  full  year  under  Cratippus,  and  that  too  in  o^tomWning*^* 
Athens,  and  you  should  be  fuUy  equipped  with  the  Greek  and  Latin 
practical  precepts  and  the  principles  of  philosoi^hy ;  so 
much  at  least  one  might  expect  from  the  pre-emi- 
nence  not  only  of  your  teacher  but  also  of  the  city ; 
the  former  is  able  to  enrich  you  with  learning,  the 
latter  to  supply  you  with  models.  Nevertheless,  just 
as  I  for  my  own  improvement  have  always  combined 
Greek  and  Latin  studies — and  I  have  done  this  not 
only  in  the  study  of  philosophy  but  also  in  the  prac- 
bice  of  oratory — so  I  recommend  that  you  should  do 
the  same,  so  that  you  may  have  equal  command  of 
both  languages.  And  it  is  in  this  very  direction  that 
I  have,  if  I  mistake  not,  rendered  a  great  service 
to  our  countrymen,  so  that  not  only  those  who  are 
unacquainted  with  Greek  Hterature  but  even  the 
cultured  consider  that  they  have  gained  much  both 
in  oratorical  power  and  in  mental  training. 

You  will,  therefore,  learn  from  the  foremost  of  Greek  PhiT». 
present-day  philosophers,  and  you  will  go  on  learning  cicero-s^own. 
as  long  as  you  wish ;  and  your  wish  ought  to  continue 
as  long  as  you  are  not  dissatisfied  with  the  progress 
you  are  making.  For  all  that,  if  you  will  read  my 
philosophical  books,  you  will  be  helped ;  my  philosophy 
is  not  very  difFerent  from  that  of  the  Peripatetics  (for 
both  they  and  I  claim  to  be  foUowers  of  Socrates  and 
Plato).  As  to  the  conclusions  you  may  reach,  I  leave 
that  to  your  own  judgment  (for  I  would  put  no  hind- 
rance  in  your  way),  but  by  reading  my  philosophical 
b2  ^ 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

nam  efficies  profecto  legendis  nostris  pleniorem.  Nec 
vero  hoc  arroganter  dictum  existimari  velim.  Nam 
philosophandi  scientiam  concedens  multis,  quod  est 
oratoris  proprium,  apte,  distincte,  ornate  dicere, 
quoniam  in  eo  studio  aetatem  consumpsi,  si  id  mihi 
assumo,  videor  id  meo  iure  quodam  modo  vindicare. 

Quam  ob  rem  magnopere  te  hortor,  mi  Cicero,  ut 
non  solum  orationes  meas,  sed  hos  etiam  de  philo- 
sophia  libros,  qui  iam  iUis  fere  se  ^  aequarunt,  studi- 
ose  legas ;  vis  enim  maior  in  illis  dicendi,  sed  hoc 
quoque  colendum  est  aequabile  et  temperatum  ora- 
tionis  genus.  Et  id  quidem  nemini  video  Graecorum 
adhuc  contigisse,  ut  idem  utroque  in  genere  elabo- 
raret  ^  sequereturque  et  illud  forense  dicendi  et  hoc 
quietum  disputandi  genus,  nisi  forte  Demetrius  Pha- 
lereus  in  hoc  numero  haberi  potest,  disputator  sub- 
tilis,  orator  parum  vehemens,  dulcis  tamen,  ut 
Theophrasti  discipulum  possis  agnoscere.  Nos  autem 
quantum  in  utroque  profecerimus,  aliorum  sit  iu- 
dicium,  utrumque  certe  secuti  sumus 

Equidem  et  Platonem  existimo,  si  genus  forense 
dicendi  tractare  voluisset,  gravissime  et  copiosissime 
potuisse  dicere,  et  Demosthenem,  si  illa,  quae  a 
Platone  didicerat,  tenuisset  et  pronuntiare  voluisset, 
ornate  splendideque  facere  potuisse;  eodemque 
modo  de  Aristotele  et  Isocrate  iudico,  quorum  uter- 
que  suo  studio  delectatus  contempsit  alterum. 

^se  A  c,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  a  b  p. 

^  elaboraret  Lambin.,  Edd. ;  laboraret  MSS. 


«Cicero  is  alluding  to  his  Republic, Tusculan  Disputations, 

Theories  of  the  Supreme  Good  and  Evil,  The  Nature  of  the 

Gods,  Academics,   Hortensius,   his  essays  on  Friendship 

(Laelius),  Old  Agre  (Cato),  Fate,  Divination,  etc.  (15  in  all). 

4 


BOOK  I.  i 

writings  you  will  be  sure  to  render  your  mastery  of 
the  Latin  language  more  complete.  But  I  would  by 
no  means  have  you  think  that  this  is  said  boastfuUy. 
For  there  are  many  to  whom  I  yield  precedence  in 
knowledge  of  philosophy ;  but  if  I  lay  claim  to  tlie 
orator's  pecuhar  abihty  to  speak  with  propriety, 
clearness,  elegance,  I  think  my  claim  is  in  a  measure 
justified,  for  I  have  spent  my  life  in  that  profession, 

And  therefore,  my  dear  Cicero,  I   cordially  re-  PWiosophy 

,  ,  n  Ti  1  i-ii  andoratory, 

commend  you  to  read  careiully  not  oniy  my  orations  but 
also  these*  books  of  mine  on  philosophy,  which  are 
now  about  as  extensive.  For  while  the  orations  ex- 
hibit  a  more  vigorous  style,  yet  the  unimpassioned, 
restrained  style  of  my  philosophical  productions  is 
also  worth  cultivating.  Moreover,  for  the  same  man 
to  succeed  in  both  departments,  both  in  the  forensic 
style  and  in  that  of  calm  philosophic  discussion  has 
not,  I  observe,  been  the  good  fortune  of  any  one  of  the 
Greeks  so  far,  unless,  perhaps,  Demetrius  of  Phalerum 
can  be  reckoned  in  that  number — a  clever  reasoner, 
indeed,  and,  though  rather  a  spiritless  orator,  he  is 
yet  charming,  so  that  you  can  recognize  in  him  the 
disciple  of  Theophrastus.  But  let  others  judge  how 
much  I  have  accomphshed  in  each  pursuit;  I  have 
at  least  attempted  both. 

I  believe,  of  course,  that  if  Plato  had  been  willing 
to  devote  himself  to  forensic  oratory,  he  could  have 
spoken  with  the  greatest  eloquence  and  power;  and 
that  if  Demosthenes  had  continued  the  studies  he 
pursued  with  Plato  and  had  wished  to  expound  his 
views,  he  could  have  done  so  with  elegance  and 
brilHancy.  I  feel  the  same  way  about  Aristotle  and 
Isocrates,  each  of  whom,  engrossed  in  his  own  pro- 
fession,  undervalued  that  of  the  other. 

5 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
II.  Sed  cum  statuissem  scribere  ad  te  aliquid  hoc 
tempore,  multa  posthac,  ab  eo  ordiri  maxime  volui, 
quod  et  aetati  tuae  esset  aptissimum  et  auctoritati 
meae.  Nam  cum  multa  sint  in  philosophia  et  gravia 
et  utilia  accurate  copioseque  a  philosophis  disputata, 
latissime  patere  videntur  ea,  quae  de  officiis  tradita 
ab  iUis  et  praecepta  sunt.  Nulla  enim  vitae  pars 
neque  publicis  neque  privatis  neque  forensibus  neque 
domesticis  in  rebus,  neque  si  tecum  agas  quid,  neque 
si  cum  altero  contrahas,  vacare  officio  potest,  in  eo- 
que  et  colendo  sita  vitae  est  honestas  omnis  et  negle- 
gendo^  turpitudo. 

5  Atque  haec  quidem  quaestio  communis  est  omnium 
philosophorum ;  quis  est  enim,  qui  nulUs  officii  prae- 
ceptis  tradendis  philosophum"  se  audeat  dicere  ?  Sed 
sunt  non  nuUae  disciplinae,  quae  propositis  bonorum 
et  malorum  finibus  officium  omne  pervertant.  Nam 
qui  summum  bonum  sic  instituit,  ut  nihil  habeat  cum 
virtute  coniunctum,  idque  suis  commodis,  non  hone- 
state  metitur,  hic,  si  sibi  ipse  consentiat  et  non  in- 
terdum  naturae  bonitate  vincatur  neque  amicitiam 
colere  possit  nec  iustitiam  nec  Uberalitatem ;  fortis 
vero  dolorem  summum  malum  iudicans  aut  temperans 
voluptatem  summum  bonum  statuens  esse  certe  nuUo 
modo  potest. 

6  Quae  quamquam  ita  sunt  in  promptu,  ut  res  dis- 
i2ff.'"Tusc.  putatione  non  egeat,  tamen  sunt  a  nobis  alio  loco 
de  off' nT'  disputata.   Hae  discipUnae  igitur  si  sibi  consentaneae 

117 

^et  neglegendo  A  H  a  b,  Edd.;  et  in  neglegendo  B  c. 

6 


BOOK  I.  i\ 

IT.  But  sii.v-c  I  liave  decided  to  write  you  a  little  statementof 
now  (and  a  great  deal  by  and  by),  I  wish,  if  possible,  ^"  ^^"^ ' 
to  begin  with  a  matter  most  suited  at  once  to  your 
years  and  to  my  position.  Although  philosophy 
ofFers  many  problems,  both  important  and  useful, 
that  have  beer  fully  and  carefully  discussed  by 
philosophers,  those  teachings  which  have  been 
handed  down  on  the  subject  of  moral  duties  seem 
to  have  the  widest  practical  application.  For  no 
phase  of  life,  whether  public  or  private,  whether  in 
business  or  in  the  home,  whether  one  is  working  on 
what  concerns  oneself  alone  or  dealing  with 
another,  can  be  without  its  moral  duty;  on  the 
discharge  of  such  duties  depends  all  that  is  morally 
right,  and  on  their  neglect  all  that  is  morally  wrong 
in  life. 

Moreover,  the  subject  of  this  inquiry  is  the  com-  The  phiiosopWi 
mon  property  of  all  philosophers ;  for  who  would  ethicai  teachim 
presume  to  call  himself  a  philosopher,  if  he  did  not 
inculcate  any  lessons  of  duty  ?  But  there  are  some 
schools  that  distort  all  notions  of  duty  by  the  theories 
they  propose  touching  the  supreme  good  and  the 
supreme  evil.  For  he  who  posits  the  supreme  good 
as  having  no  connection  with  virtue  and  measures  it 
not  by  a  moral  standard  but  by  his  own  interests — 
if  he  should  be  consistent  and  not  rather  at  times 
over-ruled  by  his  better  nature,  he  could  value 
neither  friendship  nor  justice  nor  generosity;  and 
brave  he  surely  cannot  possibly  be  that  counts  pain 
the  supreme  evil,  nor  temperate  he  that  holds 
pleasure  to  be  the  supreme  good. 

Although  these  truths  are  so  self-evident  that  the  Reasons  for 
subject  does  not  call  for  discussion,  still  I  have  dis-  subject°and 
cussed  it  in  another  connection.    If,  therefore,  these  authonties. 

7 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

velint  esse,  de  officio  nihil  queant  dicere,  neque  ulla 
officii  praecepta  firma,  stabilia,  coniuncta  naturae 
tradi  possunt  nisi  aut  ab  iis,  qui  solam,  aut  ab  iis,  qui 
maxime  honestatem  propter  se  dicant  expetendam. 
Ita  propria  est  ea  praeceptio  Stoicorum,  Academico- 
rum,  Peripateticorum,  quoniam  Aristonis,  Pyrrhonis, 
Erilli  iam  pridem  explosa  sententia  est;  qui  tamen 
haberent  ius  suum  disputandi  de  officio,  si  rerum  ali- 
quem  dilectum^  reliquissent,  ut  ad  officii  inventionem 
aditus  esset.  Sequemur  ^  igitur  hoc  quidem  tempore  et 
hac  in  quaestione  potissimum  Stoicos  non  ut  interpre- 
tes,  sed,ut  solemus,  e  fontibus  eorum  iudicio  arbitrioque 
nostro,  quantum  quoque  modo  videbitur,  hauriemus. 
Placet  igitur,  quoniam  omnis  disputatio  de  officio 
futura  est,  ante  definire,  quid  sit  officium;  quod  a 
Panaetio  praetermissum  esse  miror.  Omnis  enim, 
quae  [a]  ratione^  suscipitur  de  aUqua  re  institutio, 
debet  a  definitione  proficisci,  ut  intellegatur,  quid  sit 
id,  de  quo  disputetur. . .  .^ 

III.  Omnis  de  officio  duplex  est  quaestio:  unum 
genus  est,  quod  pertinet  ad  finem  bonorum,  alterum, 
quod  positum  est  in  praeceptis,  quibus  in  omnis  partis 
usus  vitae  conformari  ^  possit.  Superioris  generis  huius 
modi  sunt  exempla:  omniane  officia  perfecta  sint, 
num  quod  officium  aliud  aho  maius  sit,  et  quae  sunt 
generis  eiusdem.  Quorum  autem  officiorum  praecepta 
traduntur,ea  quamquam  pertinent  ad  finem  bonorum, 
tamen  minus  id  apparet,  quia  magis  ad  institutionem 
vitae    communis  spectare  videntur;  de  quibus  est 

'  dilectutn  B  H  a  b,  Edd.;  delectum  A  c. 

*  sequemur  Graevius,  Edd. ;  sequimur  MSS. 

*[a]  ratione  Ed. ;  a  ratione  MSS. ;  ratione  Miiller. 

*Cicero's  definifion  must  have  followed  here,  something' 
like  Omne  igitur,  quod  ratione actum  est  officium  appellamus 
Unger.     ^ conformari  Edd. ;  confirmari  MSS.  (i.e.  fortified). 

8 


BOOK  I.  ii-iii 

schools  should  claim  to  be  consistent,  they  could  not 
say  anything  about  duty ;  and  no  fixed,  invariable, 
natural  rules  of  duty  can  be  posited  except  by  those 
who  say  that  moral  goodness  is  worth  seeking  solely 
or  chiefly  for  its  own  sake.  Accordingly,  the  teach- 
ing  of  ethics  is  the  pecuhar  right  of  the  Stoics,  the 
Academicians,  and  the  Peripatetics ;  for  the  theories 
of  Aristo,  Pyrrho,  and  Erillus  have  been  long  since 
rejected;  and  yet  they  would  have  the  right  to  dis- 
cuss  duty  if  they  had  left  us  any  power  of  choosing 
between  things,  so  that  there  might  be  a  way  of 
fmding  out  what  duty  is.  I  shall,  therefore,  at  this 
time  and  in  this  investigation  follow  chiefly  the 
Stoics,  not  as  a  translator,  but,  as  is  my  custom,  I 
shall  at  my  own  option  and  discretion  draw  from 
those  sources  in  such  measure  and  in  such  manner 
as  shall  suit  my  purpose. 

Since,  therefore,  the  whole  discussion  is  to  be  on 
the  subject  of  duty,  I  should  hke  at  the  outset  to 
define  what  duty  is,  as,  to  my  surprise,  Panaetius  has 
failed  to  do.  For  every  systematic  development  of  any 
subject  ought  to  begin  with  a  definition,  so  that  every 
one  may  understand  what  the  discussion  is  about. 

III.  Every  treatise  on  duty  has  two  parts :  one,deal-  ciassification 
ing  with  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme  good ;  the  other,  °*  ^^^'^^- 
with  tlie  practical  rules  by  which  daily  hfe  in  all  its 
bearings  may  be  regulated.  The  following  questions 
are  illustrative  of  the  first  part:  whether  all  duties 
are  absolute ;  whether  one  duty  is  more  important 
than  another;  and  so  on.  But  as  regards  special 
duties  for  which  positive  rules  are  laid  down,  though 
they  are  affected  by  the  doctrine  of  the  supreme 
good,  still  the  fact  is  not  so  obvious,  because  they 
seem  rather  to  look  to  the  regulation  of  every-day 

9 


CICERO  DE  OFFICITS 

nobis  his  libris  explicandum.  Atque  etiam  alia  divisio 
est  officii. 

8  Nam  et  medium  quoddam  officium  dicitur  et  per- 
fectum.  Perfectum  officium  rectum,  opinor,  vocemus, 
quoniam  Graeci  Karopdoifia,  hoc  autem  commune 
officium  Ka^TjKovvocant.^  Atque  ea  sic  definiunt,  ut, 
rectum  quod  sit,  id  officium  perfectum  esse  definiant ; 
medium  autem  officium  id  esse  dicunt,  quod  cur  fa- 
ctum  sit,  ratio  probabilis  reddi  possit. 

9  Triplex  igitur  est,  ut  Panaetio  videtur,  consilii 
capiendi  dehberatio.  Nam  aut  honestumne  factu  sit 
an  turpe  dubitant  id,  quod  in  deliberationem  cadit; 
in  quo  considerando  saepe  animi  in  contrarias  senten- 
tias  distrahuntur.  Tum  autem  aut  anquirunt^  aut  con- 
sultant,  ad  vitae  commoditatem  iucunditatemque,  ad 
facultates  rerum  atque  copias,  ad  opes,  ad  potentiam, 
quibus  et  se  possint  iuvare  et  suos,  conducat  id  necne, 
de  quo  dehberant ;  quae  dehberatio  omnis  in  rationem 
utihtatis  cadit.  Tertium  dubitandi  genus  est,  cum 
pugnare  videtur  cum  honesto  id,  quod  videtur  esse 
utile ;  cum  enim  utihtas  ad  se  rapere,  honestas  contra 
revocare  ad  se  videtur,  fit  ut  distrahatur  in  deHbe- 
rando  animus  afferatque  ancipitem  curam  cogitandi. 

10  Hac  divisione,  cum  praeterire  ahquid  maximum 
vitium  in  dividendo  sit,  duo  praetermissa  sunt ;  nec 

^  officium  Ko.Qr\Kov  vocani  Pearce,  Ed.,  Heine ;  officium 
vocant  MSS.,  Bt.      ^anquirunt  A  B  H  b  ;  inquirunt  a  c. 

*  Cicero's  technical  terms  are  difficult  because  he  has  to 
invent  them  to  translate  Greek  that  is  perfectly  simple: 

rectum  is  'right,'  i.e.  perfect,  absolute.  Its  opposite  is 
medium,  'mean,'i.e.  intermediate,  fallingshortof  the  'abso- 
lute '  and  occupying  a  middle  ground  ;  common  ;  ordinary. 

hon  stum  is  '  morally  right ';  as  a  noun,  '  moral  goodness' 
(  =  honestas) ;  its  opposite  is  turfie,  'morally  wrong.' 

honestas  is  '  moral  rectitude,' — '  moral  goodness';  'mo- 
rality ';  its  opposite  turpitudo, '  moral  wrong,' '  immorality.* 
10 


^       JOK  I.  iii 

life;  and  it  is  thcse  special  duties  that  I  propose  to 
treat  at  length  in  the  following  books. 

And  yet  there  is  still  another  classification  of 
duties:  we  distinguish  between  mean"*  duty,  so- 
calledj  and  '  absolute"  duty.  Absolute  duty  we 
may,  I  presume.  call  right/'  for  the  Greeks  call  it 
KaTopdw/J-a,  whilc  the  ordinary  duty  they  call  KaQyjKov. 
And  the  meaning  of  those  terms  they  fix  thus :  what- 
ever  is  right  they  define  as  absolute  duty,  but 
'  mean"  duty,  they  say,  is  duty  for  the  performance 
of  which  an  adequate  reason  may  be  rendered. 

The  consideration  necessary  to  determine  conduct  The  threefold 
is,  therefore,  as  Panaetius  thinks,  a  threefold  one :  Setius"'"  °' 
first,  people  que  tion  wliether  the  contemplated  act 
is  morally  right  or  morally  wrong;  and  in  such 
dehberation  their  minds  are  often  led  to  widely 
divergent  conclusions.  And  then  they  examine  and 
consider  the  question  whether  the  action  contem- 
plated  is  or  is  not  conducive  to  comfort  and  happiness 
in  Ufe,  to  the  command  of  means  and  wealth,  to 
influence,  and  to  power,  by  which  they  may  be  able 
to  help  themselves  and  their  friends;  this  whole 
matter  turns  upon  a  question  of  expediency.  The 
third  type  of  question  arises  when  that  which  seems 
to  be  expedient  seems  to  conflict  with  that  which  is 
morally  right ;  for  when  expediency  seems  to  be  pull- 
ing  one  way,  while  moral  right  seems  to  be  calling 
back  in  the  opposite  direction,  the  result  is  that  the 
mind  is  distracted  in  its  inquiry  and  brings  to  it  the 
irresolution  that  is  born  of  deliberation. 

Although  omission  is  a  most    serious    defect  in  The  question  is 
classification,  two  points  have  been  overlooked  in 

honestus,  on  the  other  hand,  is  always  '  honourable  ';  and 
honores  are  always  '  offices  of  honour.' 

11 


CICERO  DE  OFFICTTS 
enim  solum  utrum  honestum  an  turpe  sit,  deliberari 
solet,  sed  etiam  duobus  propositis  honestis  utrum 
honestius,  itemque  duobus  propositis  utilibus  utrum 
utilius.  Ita,  quam  ille  triplicem  putavit  esse  rationem, 
in  quinque  partes  distribui  debere  reperitur.  Primum 
igitur  est  de  honesto,  sed  dupliciter,  tum  pari  ratione 
de  utili,  post  de  comparatione  eorum  disserendum. 

11  IV.  Principio  generi  animantium  omni  est  a  natura 
tributum,  ut  se,  vitam  corpusque  tueatur,  declinet  ea, 
quae  nocitura  videantur,  omniaque,  quae  sint  ad  vi- 
vendum  necessaria,  anquirat  et  paret,  ut  pastum,  ut 
latibula,  ut  alia  generis  eiusdem.  Commune  item^ 
animantium  omnium  est  coniunctionis  adpetitus  pro- 
creandi  causa  et  cura  quaedam  eorum,  quae  procreata 
sint^;  sed  inter  hominem  et  beluam  hoc  maxime  in- 
terest,  quod  haec  tantum,  quantum  sensu  movetur, 
ad  id  solum,  quod  adest  quodque  praesens  est,  se  accom- 
modat  paulum  admodum  sentiens  praeteritum  aut  fu- 
turum ;  homo  autem,  quod  rationis  est  particeps,  per 
quam  consequentia  cernit,  causas  rerum  videt  earum- 
que  praegressus'  et  quasi  antecessiones  non  ignorat, 
similitudinescomparatrebusquepraesentibusadiungit 
atque  annectit  futuras,  facile  totius  vitae  cursum  videt 
ad  eamque  degendam  praeparat  res  necessarias. 

12  Eademque  natura  vi  rationis  hominem  conciliat 
homini  et  ad  orationis  et  ad  vitae  societatem  inge- 

^item  Manutius,  Edd. ;  autem  MSS. 

^procreata  sint  B  H  a  b;  procreata  sunt  A.  (?),  Bt.;  pro- 
creantur  c.     ^ praegressus  A  H  a  b,  lS.Ad,;  progressus  B  c 

aFor  Panaetius  was  a  Stoic,  and  the  Stoics  did  notadmit 
that  there  were  any  degrees  of  right  or  wrong. 
12 


BOOK  I.  iii-iv 

the  foregoing:*  for  we  usually  consider  not  only 
whether  an  action  is  morally  right  or  morally  wrong', 
but  also,  when  a  choice  of  two  morally  right  courses 
is  offered,  which  one  is  morally  better ;  and  hkewise, 
when  a  choice  of  two  expedients  is  offeredj  which  onf 
is  more  expedient.  Thus  the  question  which  Panaetiui 
thought  threefold  ought,  we  find,  to  be  divided  into 
five  parts.  First,  therefore,  we  must  discuss  the  moral 
— and  that,  under  two  sub-heads ;  secondly,  in  the 
same  manner,  the  expedient;  and  finally,  the  cases 
where  they  must  be  weighed  against  each  other. 

IV.   First  of  all,  Nature  has  endowed  every  species  The  essentlai 
of  hving  creature  with  the  instinct  of  self-preserva-  betwe^en  man 
tion,  of  avoiding  what  seems  hkely  to  cause  injury  andthelower 
to  hfe  or  Hmb,  and  of  procuring  and  providing  every- 
thing  needful  for  hfe — food,  shelter,  and  the  Hke. 
A   common  property   of  all    creatures    is  also  the 
reproductive  instinct  (the  purpose  of  which  is  the 
propagation  of  the  species)  and  also  a  certain  amount  instinct  and 
of  concern  for  their  offspring.      But  the  most  marked    ^^^°"- 
difference  between  man  and  beast  is  this :  the  beast, 
just  as  far  as  it  is  moved  by  the  senses  and  with 
very  httle  perception  of  past  or  future,  adapts  itself 
to  that  alone  which  is  present  at  the  moment ;  while 
man — because  he  is  endowed  with  reason,  by  which 
he  comprehends  the  chain  of  consequences,  perceives 
the   causes  of  things,  understands  the  relation  of 
cause  to  effect  and  of  effect  to  cause,  draws  analogies, 
and  connects  and  associates  the   present  and   the 
future — easily  surveys  the  course  of  his  whole  hfe 
and  makes  the  necessary  preparations  for  its  conduct. 

Nature  hkewise  by  the  power  of  reason  associates 
man  with  man  in  the  common  bonds  of  speech  and  FakJiy  ties. 
hfe;  she  implants  in  him  above  all,  I  may  say,  a 

13 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
neratque  in  primis  praecipuum  quendam  amorem  in 
eos^  qui  procreati  sunt,  impellitque,  ut  hominum 
coetus  et  celebrationes  et  esse  et  a  se  obiri  velit  ob 
easque  causas  studeat  parare  ea,  quae  suppeditent  ad 
cultum  et  ad  victumj  nec  sibi  solij  sed  coniugi^  liberis 
eeterisque,  quos  caros  habeat  tuerique  debeat;  quae 
cura  exsuscitat  etiam  animos  et  maiores  ad  rem  ge- 
rendam  facit. 

13  In  primisque  hominis  est  propria  veri  inquisitio 
atque/  investigatio.  Itaque  cum  sumus  necessariis 
negotiis  curisque  vacui,  tum  avemus  aliquid  videre, 
audire,  addiscere  cognitionemque  rerum  aut  occul- 
tarum  aut  admirabihum  ad  beate  vivendum  neces- 
sariam  ducimus.  Ex  quo  intellegitur,  quod  verum, 
simplex  sincerumque  sit,  id  esse  naturae  hominis 
aptissimum.  Huic  veri  videndi  cupiditati  adiuncta 
est  appetitio  quaedam  principatus,  ut  nemini  parere 
animus  bene  informatus  a  natura  velit  nisi  praeci- 
pienti  aut  docenti  aut  utiUtatis  causa  iuste  et  legi- 
time  imperanti;  ex  quo  magnitudo  animi  existit 
humanarumque  rerum  contemptio. 

14  Nec  vero  illa  parva  vis  naturae  est  rationisque, 
quod  unum  hoc  animal  sentit,  quid  sit  ordo,  quid 
sit,  quod  deceat,  in  factis  dictisque  qui  modus. 
Itaque  eorum  ipsorum,  quae  aspectu  sentiuntur,  nul- 
lum  aliud  animal  pulchritudinem,  venustatem,  con- 
venientiam  partium  sentit ;  quam  similitudinem  natura 
ratioque  ab  ocuhs  ad  animum  transferens  multo  etiam 

14 


BOOK  I.  iv 

strangely  tender  love  for  his  offspring.  She  also 
prompts  men  to  meet  in  companies,  to  form  pubhc 
assemblies  and  to  take  part  in  them  themselves ;  and 
she  further  dictates,  as  a  consequence  of  this,  the 
effort  on  man's  part  to  provide  a  store  of  things  that 
minister  to  his  comforts  and  vv^ants — and  not  for 
himself  alone,  but  for  his  wife  and  children  and  the 
others  whom  he  holds  dear  and  for  whom  he  ought 
to  provide;  and  this  responsibihty  also  stimulates 
his  (courage)  and  makes  it  stronger  for  the  active 
duties  ^^i^T~~~--/UjSr / j4^/(^**^ 

Above  all,  the  search  after  truth  and  its  eager  Search  after 
pursuit  are  pecuhar  to  man.  And  so,  when  we  have  *^'^"'"* 
leisure  from  the  demands  of  business  cares,  we  are 
eager  to  see,  to  hear,  to  learn  something  new,  and 
we  esteem  a  desire  to  know  the  secrets  or  wonders 
of  creation  as  indispensable  to  a  happy  hfe.  Thus 
we  come  to  understand  that  what  is  true,  simple, 
and  genuine  appeals  most  strongly  to  a  man's 
nature.  To  this  passion  for  discovering  truth  there 
is  added  a  hungering,  as  it  were,  for  independence, 
so  that  a  mind  well-moulded  by  Nature  is  unwilling 
to  be  subject  to  anybody  save  one  who  gives  rules  of 
conduct  or  is  a  teacher  of  truth  or  who,  for  the 
general  good,  rules  according  to  justice  and  law, 
From  this  attitude  come  greatness  of  soul  and  a  sense 
of  superiority  to  worldly  conditions. 

And  it  is  no  mean  ihanifestation  of  Nature  and  Moral 
Reason  that  man  is  the  only  animal  that  has  a  feel-  sensibiUty. 
ing  for  order,forpropriety,for  moderation  in  word  and 
deed.  And  so  no  other  animal  has  a  sense  of  beauty, 
lovehness,  harmony  in  the  visible  world ;  and  Nature 
and  Reason,  extending  the  analogy  of  this  from  the 
world  of  sense  to  the  world  of  spirit,  find  that  beauty, 

15 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

magis  pulchritudinem,  constantiam,  ordinem  in  con- 
siliis  factisque  conservandam  ^  putat  cavetque,  ne 
quid  indecore  efFeminateve  faciat,  tum  in  omnibus  et 
opinionibus  et  factis  ne  quid  libidinose  aut  faciat 
aut  cogitet. 

Quibus  ex  rebus  conflatur  et  efficitur  id,  quod 
quaerimus,  honestum,  quod  etiamsi  nobihtatum  non 
sit,  tamen  honestum  sit,  quodque  vere  dicimus, 
etiamsi  a  nullo  laudetur,  natura  esse  laudabile. 

15  V.   Formam  quidem  ipsam,  Marce  fih,  et  tamquam 
faciem    honesti   vides,      quae    si   ocuhs   cerneretur, 

Phaedr.,  mirabiles  amores,"  ut  ait  Plato,  excitaretsapientiae." 
Sed  omne,  quod  est  honestum,  id  quattuor  partium 
oritur  ex  ahqua :  aut  enim  in  perspicientia  veri  soller- 
tiaque  versatur  aut  in  hominum  societate  tuenda 
tribuendoque  suum  cuique  et  rerum  contractarum 
fide  aut  in  animi  excelsi  atque  invicti  magnitudine 
ac  robore  aut  in  omniura,  quae  fiunt  quaeque  dicun- 
tur,  ordine  et  modo,  in  quo  inest  modestia  et 
temperantia. 
(15)  Quae  quattuor  quamquam  inter  se  colhgata  atque 
imphcata  sunt,  tamen  ex  singuhs  certa  officiorum 
genera  nascuntur,  velut  ex  ea  parte,  quae  prima 
discripta  ^  est,  in  qua  sapientiam  et  prudentiam 
ponimus,  inest  indagatio  atque  inventio  veri,  eiusque 

16  virtutis  hoc  munus  est  proprium.      Ut  enim  quisque 
maxime  perspicit,  quid  in  re  quaque  verissimum  sit, 

^  conservandam  MSS. ;  conservanda  codd.  aliquot  recen- 
tiores,  Bt. 

*  discripta  Heinc  ;  descripia  MSS.,  Bt. 

*Cicero  plays  on  the  double  meaning-  of  honestum:  (i) 
'moral  goodness,'  and  (2)  'honourable,    '  distinguished, 
etc. 

16 


;nOK  I.  iv-v 

consistency,  order  'rp.  far  more  to  be  maintained  in 
thought  and  deed^  and  the  same  Nature  and  Reason 
are  careful  to  do  nothing  in  an  improper  or  unmanly 
fashion^  and  in  every  thought  and  deed  to  do  or 
think  nothing  capriciously. 

It  is  from  these  elements  that  is  forged  and 
fashioned  that  moral  goodness  which  is  the  subject 
of  this  inquiry — something  that,  even  though  it  be 
not  generally  ennobled,  is  still  worthy  of  all  honour*; 
and  by  its  own  nature,  we  correctly  maintain,  it 
merits  praise,  even  though  it  be  praised  by  none. 

V.  You  see  here,  Marcus,  my  son^  the  very  form  and 
as  it  were  the  face  of  Moral  Goodness ;  and  if,"  as 
Plato  says,  it  could  be  seen  with  the  physical  eye^  it 
would  awaken  a  marvellous  love  of  wisdom."  But 
all  that  is  morally  right  rises  from  some  one  of 
four  sources, :  it  is  concerned  either  (l)  with  the  The  four  Car- 
full  perception  and  intelHgent  development  of  the 
true;  or  (2)  with  the  conservation  of  organized 
society,  with  rendering  to  every  man  his  due,  and 
with  the  faithful  discharge  of  obligations  assumed ; 
or  (3)  with  the  greatness  and  strength  of  a  noble 
and  invincible  spirit;  or  (4)  with  the  orderliness 
and  moderation  of  everything  that  is  said  and  done, 
wherein  consist  temperance  and  self-control. 

Although  these  four  are  connected  and  inter-  Theirseverai 
woven,  still  it  is  in  each  one  considered  singly  that  P''°^'°'^®^" 
certain  definite  kinds  of  moral  duties  have  their 
origin:  in  that  category^  for  instance^  which  was 
designated  first  in  our  division  and  in  which  we 
place  wisdom  and  prudence,  belong  the  search  after 
truth  and  its  discovery;  and  this  is  the  pecuHar 
province  of  that  virtue.  For  the  more  clearly  any- 
one  observes  the  most  essential  truth  in  any  given 
c  17 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quique  acutissime  et  celerrime  potest  et  videre  et 
explieare  rationem,  is  prudentissimus  et  sapientissi- 
mus  rite  haberi  solet.  Quocirca  huic  quasi  materia, 
quam  tractet  et  in  qua  versetur^  subiecta  est  veritas. 

17  ReHquis  autem  tribus  virtutibus  necessitates  pro- 
positae  sunt  ad  eas  res  parandas  tuendasque,  quibus 
actio  vitae  contineturj  ut  et  societas  hominum  con- 
iunctioque  servetur  et  animi  excellentia  magnitudoque 
cum  in  augendis  opibus  utiHtatibusque  et  sibi  et 
suis  comparandis,  tum  multo  magis  in  his  ipsis 
despiciendis  eluceat.  Ordo  autem^  et  constantia 
et  moderatio  et  ea,  quae  sunt  his  simiHa,  versantur 
in  eo  genere,  ad  quod  est  adhibenda  actio  quaedam, 
non  solum  mentis  agitatio.  lis  enim  rebus,  quae 
tractantur  in  vita^  modum  quendam  et  ordinem 
adhibentes  honestatem  et  decus  conservabimus. 

18  VI.  Ex  quattuor  autem  locis^  in  quos  honesti  na- 
turam  vimque  divisimus,  primus  ille,  qui  in  veri 
cognitione  consistit,  maxime  naturam  attingit  huma- 
nam.  Omnes  enim  trahimur  et  ducimur  ad  cogni- 
tionis  et  scientiae  cupiditatem,  in  qua  excellere 
pulchrum  putamus,  labi  autem,  errare,  nescire,  decipi 
et  malum  et  turpe  ducimus.^  In  hoc  genere  et 
naturaH  et  honesto  duo  vitia  vitanda  sunt,  unum,  ne 
incognita  procognitis  habeamus  iisque  temere  assenti- 
amur;  quod  vitium  efFugere  qui  volet  (omnes  autem 

1  autem  MSS.,  Muller,  Heine  ;  item  Pearce,  Ed.,  Bt. 

2  ducimus  c,  Edd. ;  dicimtis  A  B  H  a  b. 

18 


BOOK  I.  v-vi 

case  and  the  more  quickly  and  accurately  he  can 
see  and  explain  the  reasons  for  itj  the  more  under- 
standing  and  wise  he  is  generally  esteemed,  and 
justly  so.  Soj  then^  it  is  truth  that  is,  as  it  were, 
the  stufF  with  which  this  virtue  has  to  deal  and  on 
which  it  employs  itself. 

Before  the  three  remaining  virtues^  on  the  other 
handj  is  set  the  task  of  providing  and  maintaining 
those  things  on  which  the  practical  business  of  Hfe 
depends,  so  that  the  relations  of  man  to  man  in 
human  society  may  be  conserved,  and  that  largeness 
and  nobility  of  soul  may  be  revealed  not  only  in 
increasing  one's  resources  and  acquiring  advantages 
6or  one's  self  and  one's  family  but  far  more  in  rising 
superior  to  these  very  things.  But  orderly  behaviour 
and  consistency  of  demeanour  and  self-control  and 
the  like  have  their  sphere  in  that  department  of 
things  in  which  a  certain  amount  of  physical  exer- 
tionj  and  not  mental  activity  merely,  is  required. 
For  if  we  bring  a  certain  amount  of  propriety  and 
order  into  the  transactions  of  daily  life,  we  shall  be 
conserving  moral  rectitude  and  moral  dignity. 

VI.  Now,  of  the  four  divisions  which  we  have  a.  Wisdom 
made  of  the  essential  idea  of  moral  goodness,  the 
first,  consisting  in  the  knowledge  of  truth,  touches 
human  nature  most  closely.  For  we  are  all  attracted 
and  drawn  to  a  zeal  for  learning  and  knowing ;  and 
we  think  it  glorious  to  excel  therein,  while  we  count 
it  base  and  immoral  to  fall  into  error,  to  wander 
from  the  truth,  to  be  ignorant,  to  be  led  astray.  In 
this  pursuit,  which  is  both  natural  and  morally 
right,  two  errors  are  to  be  avoided :  first,  we  must 
not  treat  the  unknown  as  known  and  too  readily 
accept  it ;  and  he  who  wishes  to  avoid  this  error  (as 
c2  19 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
velle   debent),  adhibebit   ad   considerandas   res  et 

19  tempus  et  diligentiam.  Alterum  est  vitium,  quod 
quidam  nimis  magnum  studium  multamque  operam 
in  res  obscuras  atque  difficiles  conferunt  easdemque 
non  necessarias. 

Quibus  vitiis  declinatis  quod  in  rebus  honestis  et 
cognitione  dignis  operae  curaeque  ponetur,  id  iure 
laudabitur,  ut  in  astrologia  C.  Sulpicium  audivimus, 
in  geometria  Sex.  Pompeium  ipsi  cognovimus,  multos 
in  dialecticis,  plures  in  iure  civili,  quae  omnes  artes 
in  veri  investigatione  versantur ;  cuius  studio  a  rebus 
gerendis  abduci  contra  officium  est.  Virtutis  enim 
laus  omnis  in  actione  consistit ;  a  qua  tamen  fit  in- 
termissio  saepe  multique  dantur  ad  studia  reditus; 
tum  agitatio  mentis,  quae  numquam  acquiescit,  po- 
test  nos  in  studiis  cognitionis  etiam  sine  opera 
nostra  continere.  Omnis  autem  cogitatio  motusque 
animi  aut  in  consiliis  capiendis  de  rebus  honestis  et 
pertinentibus  ad  bene  beateque  vivendum  aut  in 
studiis  scientiae  cognitionisque  versabitur. 

Ac  de  primo  quidem  officii  fonte  diximus. 

20  VII.  De  tribus  autem  reliquis  latissime  patet  ea 
ratio,  qua  societas  hominum  inter  ipsos  et  vitae  quasi 
communitas  continetur;  cuius  partes  duae,^  iustitia, 
in  qua  virtutis  est  splendor  maximus,  ex  qua  viri 
bonl    nominantur,  et   huic   coniuncta    beneficentia, 

*  cognttionis  A,  Bt.,  Miiller,  Heine  ;  cogitationis  BH  a  b  c 
(error  caused  by  cogitatio  in  next  line). 
^partes  duae  BH  b  ;  partes  duae  sunt  c,  Bt.,  Heine 
20 


BOOK  I.  vi-vii 

all  should  do)  will  devote  both  time  and  attention 
to  the  weighing  of  evidence.  The  other  error  is 
that  some  people  devote  too  much  industry  and  too 
deep  study  to  matters  that  are  obscure  and  difficult 
and  useless  as  well. 

If  these  errors  are  successfully  avoided^  all  the 
labour  and  pains  expended  upon  problems  that  are 
morally  right  and  worth  the  solving  will  be  fully 
rewarded.  Such  a  worker  in  the  field  of  astronomy, 
for  example,  was  Gaius  Sulpicius,  of  whom  we  have 
heard;  in  mathematics,  Sextus  Pompey,  whom  I 
have  known  personally;  in  dialectics,  many;  in  civil 
law,  still  more.  All  these  professions  are  occupied 
with  the  search  after  truth;  but  to  be  drawn  by 
study  away  from  active  life  is  contrary  to  moral 
duty.  For  the  whole  glory  of  virtue  is  in  activity ; 
activity,  however,  may  often  be  interrupted,  and 
many  opportunities  for  returning  to  study  are  opened. 
Besides,  the  working  of  the  mind,  which  is  never  at 
rest,  can  keep  us  busy  in  the  pursuit  of  knowledge 
even  without  conscious  effort  on  our  part.  More- 
over,  all  our  thought  and  mental  activity  will  be 
devoted  either  to  planning  for  things  that  are  mor- 
ally  right  and  that  conduce  to  a  good  and  happy  Ufe, 
or  to  the  pursuits  of  science  and  learning. 

With  this  we  close  the  discussion  of  the  first 
source  of  duty. 

VII.  Of  the  three  remainlng  divisions,  the  most  B.  justice 
extensive  in  its  application  is  the  principle  by  which 
society  and  what  we  may  call  its  common  bonds" 
are  maintained.  Of  this  again  there  are  two 
divisions — ^justice,  in  which  is  the  crowning  glory 
of  tlie  virtues  and  on  the  basis  of  which  men  are 
called      good   men";   and,   close   akin   to  justice, 

21 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
quam   eandem   vel    benignitatem  vel  liberalitatem 
appellari  licet. 

Sed  iustitiae  primum  munus  estj  ut  ne  cui  quis 

noceat  nisi  lacessitus  iniuria,  deinde  ut  communibus 

pro  communibus  utatur,  privatis  ut  suis. 

21        Sunt  autem  privata  nulla  natura,  sed  aut  vetere 

occupationCj  ut  qui  quondam  in  vacua  venerunt,  aut 

victoria,  ut  qui  bello  potiti  sunt,  aut  lcge,  pactione, 

condicionCj  sorte ;  ex  quo  fitj  ut  ager  Arpinas  Arpi- 

natium  dicatur,  Tusculanus  Tusculanorum ;  similisque 

est  privatarum  possessionum  discriptio.''      Ex  quo, 

quia  suum  cuiusque  fit  eorum,  quae  natura  fuerant 

communia,  quod  cuique  obtigit,  id  quisque  teneat; 

e  quo  ^  si  quis  sibi  appetet,  violabit  ius  humanae  socie- 

tatis. 

22       Sed  quoniam,  ut  praeclare  scriptum  est  a  Platone, 

Ep  IX,  ad    non  nobis  solum  nati  sumus  ortusque  nostri  partem 

Archytam, 

368  A  patria  vindicat,  partem  amici,  atque,  ut  placet  Stoicis, 

quae  in  terris  gignantur,  ad  usum  hominum  omnia 
creari,  homines  autem  hominum  causa  esse  generatos, 
ut  ipsi  inter  se  aHis  alii  prodesse  possent,  in  hoc 
naturam  debemus  ducem  sequi,  communes  utihtates 
in  medium  afFerre  mutatione  officiorum,  dando  acci- 

^discriptio  B,  Edd. ;  descriptio  A  II  a  b  c. 
^e  quo  A'  H  a  b  c,  Miiller ;  eo  B,  de  quo  Bt.  (suppl.),  Heine. 
22 


i^^^y^ 


BOOK  I.  vii 

charity,  which  may  also  be  called  kindness  orj^ene- 
fosity: 

T-he  first  office  of  justice  is  to  keep  one  man  from 
doing  harm  to  another,  unless  provoked  by  vprong ; 
anJ  the  next  is  to  lead  men  to  use  common  posses- 
sions  fcr  the  common  interests,  private  property 
for  their  omil 

There  is,  ho"wa\er  no  such  thing  as  private  PubUc 
ownership  estabhshed  bj  nature,  but  property  be-  prrvate 
comes  private  either  through  long  occupancy  (as  in  interests. 
the  case  of  those  who  long  ago  settled  in  unoccupied 
territory)  or  through  conquest  (as  in  the  case  of 
those  who  took  it  in  war)  or  by  due  process  of  law, 
bargain,  or  purchase,  or  by  allotment.  On  this  prin- 
ciple  the  lands  of  Arpinum  are  said  to  belong  to  the 
Arpinates,  the  Tusculan  lands  to  the  Tusculans ;  and 
similar  is  the  assignment  of  private  property.  There- 
fore,  inasmuch  as  in  each  case  some  of  those  things 
which  by  nature  had  been  common  property  be- 
eame  the  property  of  individuals,  each  one  should 
retain  possession  of  that  which  has  fallen  to  his  lot ; 
and  if  anyone  appropriates  to  himself  anything 
beyond  that,  he  will  be  violating  the  laws  of  human 
society. 

But  since,  as  Plato  has  admirably  expressed  it,  we 
are  not  born  for  ourselves  alone,  but  our  country 
claims  a  share  of  our  being,  and  our  friends  a  share; 
and  since,  as  the  Stoics  hold,  everything  that  the 
earth  produces  is  created  for  man's  use ;  and  as  men, 
too,  are  born  for  the  sake  of  men,  that  they  may  be 
able  mutually  to  help  one  another ;  in  this  direction 
we  ought  to  follow  Nature  as  our  guide,  to  contri- 
bute  to  the  general  good  by  an  interchange  of  acts 
of  kindness,  by  giving  and  reeeiving,  and  thus  by 

23 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
piendo,  tum  artibus,  tum  operaj  tum  facultatibus 
devincire  hominum  inter  homines  societatem. 
23  Fundamentum  autem  est  iustitiae  fides,  id  est 
dictorum  conventorumque  constantia  et  veritas. 
Ex  quo^  quamquam  hoc  videbitur  fortasse  cuipiam 
durius,  tamen  audeamus  imitari  Stoicos,  qui  studiose 
exquirunt,  unde  verba  sint  ducta,  credamusque,  quia 
fiatj  quod  dictum  est,  appellatam  fidem. 

Sed  iniustitiae  genera  duo  sunt^  unum  eoi-um,  qui 
inferunt,  alterum  eorum_,  qui  ab  iis,  quibus  infertur, 
si  possunt,  non  propulsant  iniuriam.  Nam  qui  iniuste 
impetum  in  quempiam  facit  aut  ira  aut  aliqua  pertur- 
batione  incitatus,  is  quasi  manus  afferre  videtur  socio ; 
qui  autem  non  defendit  nec  obsistit,  si  potest,  iniuriae, 
tam  est  in  vitio,  quam  si  parentes  aut  amicos  aut 

24  patriam  deserat.  Atque  illae  quidem  iniuriae,  quae 
nocendi  causa  de  industria  inferuntur,  saepe  a  metu 
proficiscuntur,  cum  is,  qui  nocere  alteri  cogitat,  timet 
ne,  nisi  id  fecerit,  ipse  aliquo  afficiatur  incommodo. 
Maximam  autem  partem  ad  iniuriam  faciendam  ag- 
grediuntur,  ut  adipiscantur  ea,  quae  concupiverunt ; 
in  quo  vitio  latissime  patet  avaritia. 

25  VIII.  Expetuntur  autem  divitiae  cum  ad  usus 
vitae  necessarios,  tum  ad  perfruendas  voluptates. 
In  quibus  autem  maior  est  animus,  in  iis  pecuniae 
cupiditas  spectat  ad  opes  et  ad  gratificandi  facul- 
tatem,   ut   nuper    M.  Crassus   negabat   ullam  satis 

^Of  course,  '  g-ood  faith'  and  '  made  gfood'  have  just  as 
little  etymological  connedl;ion  a.sjiat  a.ndjidem. 

24 


300K  I.  vii-viii 

our  skill,  c  _..austry,  and  our  talents  to  cement 
human  society  more  closely  together,  man  to  man. 

The  foundation  of  justice^  moreover,  is  good  faith —  Cood  faith. 
that  is,  truth  and  fidehty  to  promises  and  agree- 
ments.  And  therefore  \ve  may  follow  the  Stoics, 
who  diligently  investigate  the  etymology  of  words ; 
and  we  may  accept  their  statement  that  good  faith  " 
is  so  called  because  what  is  promised  is  made  good/' 
although  some  may  find  tliis  derivation^  rather  far- 
fetched. 

There  ar^     ■-■.  the  other  hand,  two  kinds  of  injus-  injustice: 
tice — tht.  -^  the  part  of  those  who  inflict  wrong,  passive. 

the  other  o>  ;art  of  those  who,  when  they  can,  do 

not  shield  from  wrong  those  upon  whom  it  is  being 
inflicted.  For  he  who,  under  the  influence  of  anger 
or  some  other  passion,  wrongfully  assaults  another 
seems,  as  it  were,  to  be  laying  violent  hands  upon  a 
comrade;  b  ,".  ''.c  who  does  not  prevent  or  oppose 
wrong,  if  he  can,  is  just  as  guilty  of  wrong  as  if  he 
desei-ted  his  parents  or  his  friends  or  his  country. 
Then,  too,  those  very  wrongs  which  people  try  to  in- 
flict  on  purpose  to  injure  are  often  the  result  of  fear: 
that  is,  he  who  premeditates  injuring  another  is 
afraid  that,  if  he  does  not  do  so,  he  may  himself  be 
made  to  sufler  some  hurt.  But  for  the  most  part, 
people  are  led  to  wrong-doing  in  order  to  secure 
some  personal  end ;  in  this  vice,  avarice  is  generally 
the  controlling  motive. 

VIII.  Again,  men   seek  riches  partly  to   supply 
the  needs  of  hfe,  partly  to  secure  the  enjoyment  of 
pleasure.    With  those  who  cherish  higher  ambitions,  The  dangers  of 
the  desire  for  wealth  is  entertained  with  a  view  to  *"^  *  ""^* 
power  and   influence  and  the  means  of  bestowing 
favours ;  Marcus  Crassus,  for  example,  not  long  since 

25 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

magnam  pecumam  esse  ei,  qui  in  re  publica  princeps 
vellet  esse,  cuius  fructibus  exercitum  alere  non  pos- 
set.  Delectant  etiam  magnifici  apparatus  vitaeque 
cultus  cum  elegantia  et  copia ;  quibus  rebus  efFectum 
estj  ut  infinita  pecuniae  cupiditas  esset.  Nec  vero 
rei  familiaris  amplificatio  nemini  nocens  vituperanda 
estj  sed  fugienda  semper  iniuria  est. 

26  Maxime  autem  adducuntur  plerique,  ut  eos  iusti- 
tiae  capiat  oblivio,  cum  in  imperiorum,  honorum, 
gloriae  cupiditatem  inciderunt.  ^  Quod  enim  est 
apud  Ennium: 

Niilla  sancta  societas 
Nec  fides  regni  est, 
id  latius  patet.  Nam  quicquid  eius  modi  est,  in  quo 
non  possint  plures  excellerej  in  eo  fit  plerumque 
tanta  contentio,  ut  difficillimum  sit  servare  san- 
ctam  societatem."  Declaravit  id  modo  temeritas  C. 
Caesaris,  qui  omnia  iura  divina  et  humana  pervertit 
propter  eum,  quem  sibi  ipse  opinionis  errore  finxerat, 
principatum.  Est  autem  in  hoc  genere  molestum, 
quod  in  maximis  animis  splendidissimisque  ingeniis 
plerumque  exsistunt  honoris,  imperii,  potentiae, 
gloriae  cupiditates.  Quo  magis  cavendum  est,  ne 
quid  in  eo  genere  peccetur. 

27  Sed  in  omni  iniustitia  permultum  interest,  utrum 

'  tnciderunt  A  B  H  L  a  b ;  inciderint  c. 
26 


BOOK  I.  viii 

declared  that  no  amount  of  wealth  was  enough  for 
the  man  who  aspired  to  be  the  foremost  citizen  of 
the  state,  unless  with  the  income  from  it  he  could 
maintain  an  army.  Fine  establishments  and  the 
comforts  of  life  ia  elegance  and  abundance  also 
afFord  pleasure,  and  the  desire  to  secure  it  gives  rise 
to  the  insatiable  thirst  for  wealth.  Still,  I  do  not 
mean  to  find  fault  with  the  accumulation  of  property, 
provided  it  hurts  nobody,  but  unjust  acquisition  of 
it  is  always  to  be  avoided. 

The  great  majority  of  people,  however,  when 
they  fall  a  prey  to  ambition  for  either  mihtary  or 
civil  authority,  are  carried  away  by  it  so  completely 
that  they  quite  lose  sight  of  the  claims  of  justice. 
For  Ennius  says : 

There  is  no  fellowship  inviolate, 

No  faith  is  keptj  when  kingship  is  concerned;" 

and  the  truth  of  his  words  has  an  uncommonly  wide 
appHcation.  For  whenever  a  situation  is  of  such 
a  nature  that  not  more  than  one  can  hold  pre- 
eminence  in  it,  competition  for  it  usually  becomes 
so  keen  that  it  is  an  extremely  difficult  matter  to 
maintain  a  fellowship  inviolate."  We  saw  this  caesar. 
proved  but  now  in  the  efFrontery  of  Gaius  Caesar, 
who,  to  gain  that  sovereign  power  which  by  a 
depraved  imagination  he  had  conceived  in  his  fancy, 
trod  underfoot  all  laws  of  gods  and  men.  But  the 
trouble  about  this  matter  is  that  it  is  in  the  greatest 
souls  and  in  the  most  brilliant  geniuses  that  we  usually 
find  ambitions  for  civil  and  mihtary  authority,for  power, 
and  for  glory,  springing  up ;  and  therefore  we  must  be 
the  more  heedful  not  to  go  wrong  in  that  direction. 

But  in  any  case  of  injustice  it  makes  a  vast  deal  Themotivesto 

gn.  wrong. 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

perturbatione  aliqua  animi,  quae  plerumque  brevis 
est  et  ad  tempus^  an  consulto  et  cogitata  ^  fiat  iniuria. 
Leviora  enim  sunt  ea,  quae  repentino  aliquo  motu 
accidunt,  quam  ea,  quae  meditata  et  praeparata  in- 
feruntur. 

Ac  de  inferenda  quidem  iniuria  satis  dictum  est. 

28  IX.  Praetermittendae  autem  defensionis  deseren- 
dique  officii  plures  solent  esse  causae ;  nam  aut  ini- 
micitias  aut  laborem  aut  sumptus  suscipere  nolunt 
aut  etiam  neglegentiaj  pigritia,  inertia  aut  suis  studiis 
quibusdam  occupationibusve  sic  impediuntur,  ut  eos, 
quos  tutari  debeant,  desertos  esse  patiantur.    Itaque 

fsiff. ; '  videndum  est^  ne  non  satis  sit  id^  quod  apud  Plato- 
VII,  520  D  nem  est  in  philosophos  dictum,  quod  in  veri  investi- 
gatione  versentur  quodque  ea,  quae  plerique  vehe- 
menter  expetant/  de  quibus  inter  se  digladiari 
soleant^  contemnant  et  pro  nihilo  putent,  propterea 
iustos  esse.  Nam  alterum  [iustitiae  genus]  asse- 
quuntur^^  ut*  inferenda  ne  cui  noceant  iniuria^  in 
alterum  incidunt^;  discendi  enim  studio  impediti, 
Rop.  I,  quos  tueri  debent,  deserunt.  Itaque  eos  ne  ad  rem 
pubHcam  quidem  accessuros  putat  nisi  coactos. 
Aequius  autem  erat  id  voluntate  fieri;  nam  hoc  ipsum 
ita  iustum  est,  quod  recte  fit^  si  est  voluntarium. 

29  Sunt  etiam,  qui  aut  studio  rei  famiharis  tuendae 
aut  odio  quodam  hominum  suum  se  negotium  agere 

'  cogitata  A  B  H  a  b  p,  Edd.;  cogitatu  c,  cogitato  alii, 
Madvig-  (ad  De  Fin.  p.  696). 

^e.vpetant  A  B  a  b;  expectant  H ;  exspcctant  c. 

^alterum  iustitiae  genus  assequuntur  MSS. ;  alterum  asse- 
quuntur  Pearce,  J.  M.  Heusiiiger,  et  al.;  alterum  genus 
assequuntur  Beier. 

*ut  Halm  ;  in  MSS.;  om.  Bt. 

"m  alterum  incidunt  A  B  H  a  b  ;  «n  altero  dcllnqunt  c, 
Bt.  {delinquunt,  i.e.  they  offend  in  tlie  other  dircction). 

28 


347  C 


BOOK  I.  viii-ix 

of  diiference  whether  the  wrong  is  done  as  a  result 
of  some  impulse  of  passion^  which  is  usually  brief 
and  transientj  or  whether  it  is  committed  wilfully  and 
with  premeditation ;  for  ofFences  that  come  through 
some  sudden  impulse  are  less  culpable  than  those 
committed  designedly  and  with  malice  aforethought. 

But   enough   has   been  said    on   the    subject  of 
inflicting  injury. 

IX.  The  motives  for  failure  to  prevent  injury  and  Motiyes  to  pas- 
so  for  slighting  duty  are  likely  to  be  various:  people  ^'^'''"J"'  "^®- 
either  are  reluctant  to  incur  enmity  or  trouble  or 
expense;  or  through  indifference,  indolence,  or  in- 
competence,  or  through  some  preoccupation  or  self- 
interest  they  are  so  absorbed  that  they  suffer  those  to  a.  Preoccupa- 
be  neglected  whom  it  is  their  duty  to  protect.  And  *'°°' 
so  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  what  Plato  declares 
of  the  philosophers  may  be  inadequate,  when  he 
says  that  they  are  just  because  they  are  busied  with 
the  pursuit  of  truth  and  because  they  despise  and 
count  as  naught  that  which  most  men  eagerly  seek 
and  for  which  they  are  prone  to  do  battle  against 
each  other  to  the  death.  For  they  secure  one  sort 
of  iustice,  to  be  sure^  in  that  they  do  no  positive 
wrong  to  anyone^  but  they  fall  into  the  opposite 
injustice ;  for  hampered  by  their  pursuit  of  learning 
they  leave  to  their  fate  those  whom  they  ought  to 
defend.  And  so,  Plato  thinks,  they  will  not  even 
assume  their  civic  duties  except  under  compulsion. 
But  in  fact  it  were  better  that  they  should  assume 
them  of  their  own  accord;  for  an  action  intrin- 
sically  right  is  just  only  on  condition  that  it  is 
voluntary. 

There  are  some  also  who^  either  from  zeal    in  b.  Seif-interest. 
attending  to  their  own  business  or  through  some 

29 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
dicant  nec  facere  cuiquam  videantur  iniuriam.     Qui 
altero  genere  iniustitiae  vacant,  in  alterum  incurrunt ; 
deserunt  enim  vitae  societatem,  quia  nihil  conferunt 
in  eam  studii,  nihil  operae,  nihil  facultatum. 

Quando  igitur  duobus  generibus  iniustitiae  propo- 
sitis  adiunximus  causas  utriusque  generis  easque  res 
ante  constituimus,  quibus  iustitia  contineretur,  facile, 
quod  cuiusque  temporis  officium  sit,  poterimus^  nisi 

30  nosmet  ipsos  valde  amabimus,  iudicare;    est  enim 
Heaut.        difficilis  cura  rerum  alienarum.     Quamquam  Teren- 

Tim.  77.  jf 

tianus  ille  Chremes  humani  nihil  a  se  alienura 
putat";  sed  tamen,  quia  magis  ea  percipimus  atque 
sentimus,  quae  nobis  ipsis  aut  prospera  aut  adversa 
eveniunt,  quam  illa,  quae  ceteris,  quae  quasi  longo 
intervallo  interiecto  videmus,  aliter  de  ilHs  ac  de 
nobis  iudicamus.  Quocirca  bene  praecipiunt,  qui 
vetant  quicquam  agere,  quod  dubites  aequum  sit  an 
iniquum.  Aequitas  enim  lucet  ipsa  per  se,  dubitatio 
cogitationem  significat  iniuriae. 

31  X.  Sed  incidunt  saepe  tempora,  cum  ea,  quae 
maxime  videntur  digna  esse  iusto  homine  eoque, 
quem  virum  bonum  dicimus,  commutantur  fiuntque 
contraria,  ut  reddere  depositum,  facere  promissum- 
quaeque  pertinent  ad  veritatem  et  ad  fidem,  ea  mi- 

30 


BOOK  I.  ix-x 

sort  of  aversion  to  their  fellow-men,  claim  that  they 
are  occupied  solely  with  their  own  affairs,  without 
seeming  to  themselves  to  be  doing  anyone  any  injury. 
But  while  they  steer  clear  of  the  one  kind  of  injustice, 
they  fall  into  the  other :  they  are  traitors  to  social 
Hfe,  for  they  contribute  to  it  none  of  their  interest, 
none  of  their  efFort,  none  of  their  means. 

Now  since  we  have  set  forth  the  two  kinds  of  Ruies  of  duty 
injustice  and  assigned  the  motives  that  lead  to  each,  j^^g^JJgg'^  ^^ 
and  since  we  have  previously  established  the  prin- 
ciples  by  which  justice  is  constituted,  we  shall  be  in 
a  position  easily  to  decide  what  our  duty  on  each 
occasion  iSj  unless  we  are  extremely  self-centred ;  for 
indeed  it  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  be  really  concerned 
with  other  people's  afFairs ;  and  yet  in  Terence's  play, 
we  know,  Chremes  thinks  that  nothing  that  concerns 
man  is  foreign  to  him."  Nevertheless,  when  things 
tum  out  for  our  own  good  or  ill,  we  realize  it  more 
fully  and  feel  it  more  deeply  than  when  the  same 
things  happen  to  others  and  we  see  them  only,  as  it 
wer3,  in  the  far  distanee;  and  for  this  reason  we 
judge  their  case  differently  from  our  own.  It  is, 
therefore,  an  excellent  rule  that  they  give  who  bid  us 
not  to  do  a  thing,  when  there  is  a  doubt  whether  it 
be  right  or  wrong ;  for  righteousness  shines  with  a 
briljiance  of  its  own,  but  doubt  is  a  sign  that  we  are 
thinking  of  a  possible  wrong. 

X.  But  occasions  often  arise,  when  those  duties  change  of  duty 
which  seem  most  becoming  to  the  just  man  and  to  '°  change  of  cir- 
the  good  man,"  as  we  call  him,  undergo  a  change 
and  take  on  a  contrary  aspect.  It  may,  for  example, 
not  be  a  duty  to  restore  a  trust  or  to  fulfil  a  promise, 
and  it  may  become  right  and  proper  sometimes  to 
evade  and  not  to  observe  what  truth  and  honour 

31 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
grare  interdum  et  non  servare  fit  iustum.     Referri 

Ch.  vii  enim  decet  ad  ea,  quae  posui  principio^  fundamenta 
iustitiae^  primum  ut  ne  cui  noceatur,  deinde  ut  com- 
muni  utilitati  serviatur.  Ea  cum  tempore  commu- 
tantur,  commutatur  officium  et  non  semper  est 
32  idem.  Potest  enim  accidere  promissum  aliquod  et 
conventum,  ut  id  effici  sit  inutile  vel  ei,  cui  pro- 
missum  sitj  vel  ei,   qui  promiserit      Nam  si,  ut  in 

e.g.  Eur.     fabulis    est,    Neptunus,    quod    Theseo    promiserat, 

Hipp. 

1315-1319  non  fecisset,  Theseus  Hippolyto  filio  non  esset 
orbatus ;  ex  tribus  enim  optatis^  ut  scribitur,  hoc  erat 
tertium^  quod  de  Hippolyti  interitu  iratus  optavit; 
quo  impetrato  in  maximos  luctus  incidit.  Nec  pro- 
missa  igitur  servanda  sunt  ea^  quae  sint  iis,  quibus 
promiseriSj  inutilia^  nec,  si  plus  tibi  ea  noceant  quam 
ilH  prosint,  cui  promiseris,  contra  officium  est  maius 
anteponi  minori ;  ut,  si  constitueris  cuipiam  te  advo- 
catum  in  rem  praesentem  esse  venturum  atque 
interim  graviter  aegrotare  filius  coeperit,  non  sit 
contra  officium  non  facere,  quod  dixeris,  magisque 
ille,  cui  promissum  sit,  ab  officio  discedat,  si  se 
destitutum  queratur.  lam  illis  promissis  standum 
non  esse  quis  non  videt,  quae  coactus  quis  metu, 
^cut  B  a,  Edd, ;  cui  quod  H  b ;  cui  quid  A  c. 

*The  three  wishes  were:    (i)  safe  return  from   Hades; 
(2)  escape  frora  the  Labyrinth;  (3)  the  death  of  Hippolytus. 

32 


BOOK  I.  X 

would  usually  demand.  For  we  may  well  be  guided 
by  those  fundamental  principles  of  justice  which  I 
laid  down  at  the  outset :  first,  that  no  harm  be  done 
to  anyone;  second,  that  the  common  interests  be 
conserved.  When  these  are  modified  under  changed 
circumstances,  moral  duty  also  undergoes  a  change, 
;ind  it  does  not  always  remain  the  same.  For  a  given 
promise  or  agreement  may  turn  out  in  such  a  way  Non-fulfilment 
that  its  performance  will  prove  detrimental  either  to  °  P"^"™'*^*- 
the  one  to  whom  the  promise  has  been  made  or  to 
the  one  who  has  made  it.  If,  for  example,  Neptune, 
in  the  drama,  had  not  carried  out  his  promise  to 
Theseus,  Theseus  would  not  have  lost  his  son 
Hippolytus;  for,  as  the  story  runs,  of  the  three 
wishes^  that  Neptune  had  promised  to  grant  him  the 
third  was  this :  in  a  fit  of  anger  he  prayed  for  the 
death  of  Hippolytus,  and  the  granting  of  this  prayer 
plunged  him  into  unspeakable  grief.  Promises  are, 
therefore,  not  to  be  kept,  if  the  keeping  of  them  Is 
to  prove  harmful  to  those  to  whom  you  have  made 
them ;  and,  if  the  fulfilment  of  a  promise  should  do 
more  harm  to  you  than  good  to  him  to  whom  you 
have  made  it,  it  is  no  violation  of  moral  duty  to  give 
the  greater  good  precedence  over  the  lesser  good. 
For  example,  if  you  have  made  an  appointment  with 
anyone  to  appear  as  his  advocate  in  court,  and  if  in 
the  meantime  your  son  should  fall  dangerously  ill,  it 
would  be  no  breach  of  your  moral  duty  to  fail  in  what 
you  agreed  to  do;  nay,  rather,  he  to  whom  your 
promise  was  given  would  have  a  false  conception  of 
duty,  if  he  should  complain  that  he  had  been  deserted 
in  his  time  of  need.  Further  than  this,  who  fails  to 
see  that  those  promises  are  not  binding  which  are 
extorted  by  intimidation  or  which  we  make  when 
D  3.a 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quae  deceptus  dolo  promiserit?  quae  quidem  pleraque 
iure  praetorio  liberantur,  non  nulla  legibus. 
S3  Exsistunt  etiam  saepe  iniuriae  calumnia  quadam  et 
nimis  callida^  sed  malitiosa  iuris  interpretatione.  Ex 
quo  illud  Summum  ius  summa  iniui*ia"  factum  est 
iam  tritum  sermone  proverbium.  Quo  in  genere 
etiam  in  re  publica  multa  peccantur,  ut  ille,  qui,  cum 
triginta  dierum  essent  cum  hoste  indutiae  factae, 
noctu  populabatur  agros,  quod  dierum  essent  pactae, 
non  noctium  indutiae.  Ne  noster  quidem  probandus, 
si  verum  est  Q.  Fabium  Labeonem  seu  quem  alium 
(nihil  enim  habeo  praeter  auditum)  arbitrum  Nolanis 
et  Neapolitanis  de  finibus  a  senatu  datum,  cum  ad 
locum  venisset,  cum  utrisque  separatim  locutum,  ne 
cupidequid  agerent,  ne  appetenter,  atque  ut  regredi 
quam  progredi  mallent.  Id  cum  utrique  fecissent, 
aliquantum  agri  in  medio  relictum  est.  Itaque 
illorum  finis  sic,  ut  ipsi  dixerant,  terminavit ;  in  medio 
relictum  quod  erat,  populo  Romano  adiudicavit. 
Decipere  hoc  quidem  est,  non  iudicare.  Quocirca  in 
omni  est  re  fugienda  taHs  sollertia. 

XI.  Sunt  autem  quaedam  officia  etiam  adversus 
eos  servanda,  a  quibus  iniuriam  acceperis.  Est  enim 
ulciscendi  et  puniendi  modus;  atque  haud  scio  an 
satis  sit  eum,  qui  lacessierit,  iniuriae  suae  paenitere, 

*Each  praetor,  at  his  inauguration,  announced  publicly 
the  principles  and  policies  that  should  gulde  him  in  the 
administration  of  his  office.  These  were  the  source  of  the 
his  Praetorium,  which  explained  and  supplemented  the 
common  law  (/«s  Civile)  and  even  modified  its  ancient 
rigour  so  as  to  conform  with  a  more  advanced  public  senti- 
ment,  and  form  a  most  valuable  part  of  the  body  of  Roman 
Law. 

hThis  story  is  told  of  Cleomenes,  King'  of  Sparta  (520- 
491   B.C.),   in   the  war  with  Argos.     (Plutarch,  Apophth. 
Lacon.  223  A.) 
34 


BOOK  I.  x-xi 

misled  by  false  pretences?  Such  obligations  ai*e 
annulled  in  most  cases  by  the  praetor's  edict  in 
equity/  in  some  cases  by  the  laws. 

Injustice  often  arises  also  through  chicanery^  that  Chicanery. 
is,  through  an  over-subtle  and  even  fraudulent  con- 
struction  of  the  law.  This  it  is  that  gave  rise  to  the 
now  famihar  saw,  More  law^  less  justice."  Through 
such  interpretation  also  a  great  deal  of  wrong  is 
committed  in  transactions  between  state  and  state ; 
thus,  when  a  truce  had  been  made  with  the  enemy 
for  thirty  days,  a  famous  general''  went  to  ravaging 
their  fields  by  night^  because,  he  said,  the  truce 
stipulated  'days,"  not  nights.  Not  even  our  own 
countryman's  action  is  to  be  commended,  if  what  is 
told  of  Quintus  Fabius  Labeo  is  true — or  whoever  it 
was  (for  I  have  no  authority  but  hearsay) :  appointed 
by  the  Senate  to  arbitrate  a  boundary  dispute  be- 
tween  Nola  and  Naples,  he  took  up  the  case  and 
interviewed  both  parties  separately,  asking  th.em  not 
to  proceed  in  a  covetous  or  grasping  spirit,  but  to 
make  some  concession  rather  than  claim  some  acces- 
sion.  When  each  party  had  agreed  to  this,  there 
was  a  considerable  strip  of  territory  left  between 
them.  And  so  he  set  the  boundary  of  each  city 
as  each  had  severally  agreed ;  and  the  tract  in  be- 
tween  he  awarded  to  the  Roman  People.  Now  that 
is  swindhng,  not  arbitration.  And  therefore  such 
sharp  practice  is  under  all  circumstances  to  be 
avoided. 

XI.   Again,  there  are  certain  duties  that  we  owe  Our  duty  to 
even  to  those  who  have  wronged  us.     For  there  is  a  wrongrd  us^^^^ 
limit  to  retribution  and  to  punishment ;  or  rather,  I 
am  inclined  to  think,  it  is  sufficient  that  the  aggressor 
should  be  brought  to  repent  of  his  wrong-doing,  in 
d2  $& 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
ut  et  ipse  ne  quid  tale  posthac  et  ceteri  sint  ad 
iniuriam  tardiores. 

34  Atque  in  re  publica  maxime  conservanda  sunt 
iura  belli.  Nam  cum  sint  duo  genera  decertandi, 
unum  per  disceptationem,  alterum  per  vim,  cumque 
illud  proprium  sit  hominis,  hoc  beluarum,  confugien- 
dum   est  ad   posterius,   si   uti   non   licet   superiore. 

35  Quare  suscipienda  quidem  bella  sunt  ob  eam  causam, 
ut  sine  iniuria  in  pace  vivatur,  parta  autem  victoria 
conservandi  ii,  qui  non  crudeles  in  bello,  non  im- 
manes  fuerunt,  ut  maiores  nostri  Tusculanos,  Aequos, 
Volscos,  Sabinos,  Hernicos  in  civitatem  etiam  acce- 
perunt,  at  Carthaginem  et  Numantiam  funditus  sus- 
tulerunt;  nollemCorinthum,sedcredoaliquid  secutos, 
opportunitatem  loci  maxime,  ne  posset  aliquando  ad 
bellum  faciendum  locus  ipse  adhortari.  Mea  quidem 
sententia  paci,  quae  nihil  habitura  sit  insidiarum, 
semper  est  consulendum.  In  quo  si  mihi  esset  op- 
temperatum,  si  non  optimam,  at  aliquam  rem  publi- 
cam^  quae  nunc  nulla  est,  haberemus. 

Et  cum  iis,  quos  vi  deviceris,  consulendum  est,  tum 

ii,  qui  armis  positis  ad  imperatorum  fidem  confugient, 

quamvis  murum  aries  percusserit,  recipiendi.    In  quo 

tantopere  apud  nostros  iustitia  culta  est,  ut  ii,  qui 
36 


BOOK  I.  xi 

order  that  he  may  not  repeat  the  ofFence  and  that 
others  may  be  deterred  from  doing  wrong. 

!4  Then,  too,  in  the  case  of  a  state  in  its  external 
relations,  the  rights  of  war  must  be  strictly  observed. 
For  since  there  are  two  ways  of  settling  a  dispute : 
first,  by  discussion;  second,  by  physical  force;  and 
since  the  former  is  characteristic  of  man,  the  latter 
of  the  brute,  we  must  resort  to  force  only  in  case 

i5  we  may  not  avail  ourselves  of  discussion.  The  only  Excuse  for  war. 
excuse,  therefore,  for  going  to  war  is  that  we  may 
live  in  peace  unharmed;  and  when  the  victory  is 
won,  we  should  spare  those  who  have  not  been 
blood-thirsty  and  barbarous  in  their  warfare.  For  Justicetoward 
instance,  our  forefathers  actually  admitted  to  full  ^  vanquis  ea 
rights  of  citizenship  the  Tusculans,  Aequians,  Vol- 
scians,  Sabines,  and  Hernicians,  but  they  razed 
Carthage  and  Numantia  to  the  ground.  I  wish  they 
had  not  destroyed  Corinth ;  but  I  beheve  they  had 
some  special  reason  for  what  they  did — its  con- 
venient  situation,  probably — and  feared  that  its  very 
location  might  some  day  furnish  a  temptation  to 
renew  the  war.  In  my  opinion,  at  least,  we  should 
always  strive  to  secure  a  peace  that  shall  not  admit 
of  guile.  And  if  my  advice  had  been  heeded  on 
this  point,  we  should  still  have  at  least  some  sort  of 
constitutional  government,  if  not  the  best  in  the 
world,  whereas,  as  it  is,  we  have  none  at  all. 

Not  only  must  we  show  consideration  for  those 
whom  we  have  conquered  by  force  of  arms  but  we 
must  also  ensure  protection  to  those  who  lay  down 
their  arms  and  throw  themselves  upon  the  mercy  of 
our  generals,  even  though  the  battering-ram  has 
hammered  at  their  walls.  And  among  our  country- 
men  justice  has  been  observed  so  conscientiously  in 

37 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
civitates  aut  nationes  devictas  bello  in  fidem  recepis- 
sentj  earum  patroni  essent  more  maiorum. 

36  Ac  belli  quidem  aequitas  sanctissime  fetiali  populi 
Romani  iure  perscripta  est.  Ex  quo  intellegl  potest 
nullum  bellum  esse  iustum,  nisi  quod  aut  rebus  repe- 
titis  geratur  aut  denuntiatum  ante  sit  et  indictum. 
[Popilius  imperator  tenebat  provinciam,  in  cuius 
exercitu  Catonis  filius  tiro  militabat.  Cum  autem 
Popilio  videretur  unam  dimittere  legionem^  Catonis 
quoque  filium,  qui  in  eadem  legione  militabat,  dimisit. 
Sed  cum  amore  pugnandi  in  exercitu  remansisset, 
Cato  ad  Popilium  scripsit,  ut,  si  eum  patitur^  in 
exercitu  remanere,  secundo  eum  obliget  militiae 
sacramento,  quia  priore  amisso   iure   cum  hostibus 

37  pugnare  non  poterat.  Adeo  summa  erat  observatio 
in  bello  movendo.]^  M.  quidem  Catonis  senis  est 
epistula  ad  M.  filiunij  in  qua  scribit  se  audisse  eum 
missum  factum  esse  a  consule,  cum  in  Macedonia 
bello  Persico  miles  esset.  Monet  igitur,  ut  caveat, 
ne  proelium  ineat;  negat  enim  ius  esse,  qui  miles 
non  sit,  cum  hoste  pugnare. 

XII.  Equidem  etiam  illud  animadverto,  quod,  qui 
proprio  nomine  perduellis  esset,  is  hostis  vocaretur, 
lenitate  verbi  rei  tristitiam  mitigatam.  Hostis  enim 
apud  maiores  nostros  is  dicebatur,  quem  nunc  pere- 

^Popilitis .  . .  movendo  bracketed  by  Madvig,  Edd. ;  Popilius 
.  .  .  poterat  bracketed  by  Unger. 
^patitur  A  B  H  a  b ;  patiatur  c. 

»  Lucius  Aemilius  Paulus  (b.C.  i68). 
88 


BOOK  I.  xi-xii 

this  direction,  that  tliose  who  have  given  promise  of 
protection  to  states  or  nations  subdued  in  war  become, 
after  the  custom  of  our  forefathers,  the  patrons  of 
those  states. 

36  As  for  war,  humane  laws  touching  it  are  drawn  Thehumanity 
up  in  the  fetial  code  of  the  Roman  People  under  all  «f  ^a"'^  '^'''^ 
the  guarantees  of  reHgion ;  and  from  this  it  may  be 
gathered  that  no  war  is  just,  unless  it  is  entered  upon 

after  an  official  demand  for  satisfaction  has  been  sub- 
mitted  or  warning  has  been  given  and  a  formal  decla- 
ration  made.  Popihus  was  general  in  command  of 
a  province.  In  his  army  Cato's  son  was  serving  on 
his  first  campaign.  When  PopiHus  decided  to  dis- 
band  one  of  his  legions,  he  discharged  also  young 
Cato  who  was  serving  in  that  same  legion,  But 
when  the  young  man  out  of  love  for  the  service 
stayed  on  in  the  field,  his  father  wrote  to  Popihus  to 
say  that  if  he  let  him  stay  in  the  army,  he  should 
swear  him  into  service  with  a  new  oath  of  allegiance, 
for  in  view  of  the  voidance  of  his  former  oath  he 
could  not  legally  fight  the  foe.  So  extremely  scrupu- 
lous  was  the  observance  of  the  laws  in  regai-d  to  tlie 

37  conduct  of  war.  There  is  extant,  too,  a  letter  of  the 
elder  Marcus  Cato  to  his  son  Marcus,  in  which  he  writes 
that  he  has  heard  that  the  youth  has  been  discharged 
by  the  consul,*  when  he  was  serving  in  Macedonia  in 
the  war  with  Perseus.  He  warns  him,  therefore,  to  be 
careful  not  to  go  into  battle ;  for,  he  says,  the  man  who  is 
not  legally  a  soldier  has  no  right  to  be  fighting  the  foe. 

XII.  This  also  I  observe — that  he  who  would 
properly  have  been  called  a  fighting  enemy " 
{perduellis)  was  called  "  a  guest "  ihostis),  thus  re- 
heving  the  ughness  of  the  fact  by  a  softened 
expression;  for  "enemy"  {hostis)  meant  to  our  an- 

39 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
grinum  dicimus.     Indicant  duodecim  tabulae:  aut 

STATUS    DIES    CUM    HOSTE,    itcmque  :    ADVERSUS    HOSTEM 

AETERNA  AUCTORiTAS.  Quid  ad  lianc  mansuetudinem 
addi  potest,  eum,  quicum  bellum  geras,  tam  molli 
nomine  appellare?  Quamquam  id  nomen  durius 
efFecit^  iam  vetustas;  a  peregrino  enim  recessit  et 
proprie  in  eo,  qui  arma  contra  ferret,  remansit. 
38  Cum  vero  de  imperio  decertatur  belloque  quaeritur 
gloria,  causas  omnino  subesse  tamen  oportet  easdem, 
quas  dixi  paulo  ante  iustas  causas  esse  bellorum. 
Sed  ea  bella,  quibus  imperii  proposita  gloria  est, 
minus  acerbe  gerenda  sunt.  Ut  enim  cum  civi 
aliter  contendimus,  si^  est  inimicus,  aliter,  si  com- 
petitor  (cum  altero  certamen  honoris  et  dignitatis 
est,  cum  altero  capitis  et  famae),  sic  cum  Celtiberis, 
cum  Cimbris  bellum  ut  cum  inimicis  gerebatur,  uter 
esset,  non  uter  imperaret,  cum  Latinis,  Sabinis,  Sam- 
nitibus,  Poenis,  Pyrrho  de  imperio  dimicabatur. 
Poeni  foedifragi,  crudelis  Hannibal,  reliqui  iustiores. 
Pyrrhi  quidem  de  captivis  reddendis  illa  praeclara : 

Ennius,        Ncc  mi  aurum  posco  nec  mi  pretium  dederitis, 

Ann.  VI.  r  tr 

Vah'en2,       Ncc^  cauponantes  bellum,  sed  belligerantes 
2^1  Ferro,  non  auro  vitam  cernamus  utrique. 

'  effecit  Edd. ;  efficit  MSS. 

^  cuni  cive  [Edd.:  ctvi]  aliter  contendimus  st  h,  Anemoe- 
cius,  Edd.;  ctim  civiliter  contetidimns  aliter  5/  A  B  H  a  b  c. 
^Nec  A  B  H  b  c;  Non  L  p,  Bt.,  Heine. 

40 


BOOK  I.  xii 

cestors  what  we  now  call  stranger  "  {peregrinus) . 
This  is  proved  by  the  usage  in  the  Twelve  Tables: 
Or  a  day  fixed  for  trial  with  a  stranger"  {hostis). 
And  again:  Right  of  ownership  is  inaHenable  for 
ever  in  deahngs  with  a  stranger"  (hostis).  What 
can  exceed  such  charity,  when  he  with  whom  one  is 
at  war  is  called  by  so  gentle  a  name?  And  yet 
long  lapse  of  time  has  given  that  word  a  harsher 
meaning :  for  it  has  lost  its  signification  of  stranger  " 
and  has  taken  on  the  technical  connotation  of  an 
enemy  under  arms." 

But  when  a  war  is  fought  out  for  supremacy  and  justice  in  war. 
when  glory  is  the  object  of  war,  it  must  still  not  fail 
to  start  from  the  same  motives  which  I  said  a  moment 
ago  were  the  only  righteous  grounds  for  going  to 
war.  But  those  wars  which  have  glory  for  their  end 
must  be  carried  on  with  less  bitterness.  For  we 
contend,  for  example,  with  a  fellow-citizen  in  one 
way,  if  he  is  a  personal  enemy,  in  another^  if  he  is  a 
rival:  with  the  rival  it  is  a  struggle  for  office  and 
position,  with  the  enemy  for  Hfe  and  honour.  So 
with  the  Celtiberians  and  the  Cimbrians  we  fought 
as  with  deadly  enemies,  not  to  determine  which 
should  be  supreme,  but  which  should  survive ;  but 
with  the  Latins,  SabineSj  Samnites,  Carthaginians, 
and  Pyrrhus  we  fought  for  supremacy.  The  Cartha- 
ginians  violated  treaties ;  Hannibal  was  cruel ;  the 
others  were  more  merciful.  From  Pyrrhus  we  have 
this  famous  speech  on  the  exchange  of  prisoners : 
Goldwill  I  none,  nor  price  shall  yegive;  forlasknone; 
Come,  let  us  not  be  chaifrers  of  war,  but  warriors 

embattled. 
Nay;  let  us  venture  our  hves,  and  the  sword,  not 

gold,  weigh  the  outcome. 

41 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Vosne  velit  an  me  regnare  era,  quidve  ferat  Fors, 

Virtute  experiamur.     Et  hoc  simul  accipe  dictum : 
Quorum  virtuti^  belli  fortuna  pepercit, 
Eorundem  libertati  me  parcere  certum  est. 
Dono,  ducite,  doque  volentibus  cum  magnis  dis. 

Regalis  sane  et  digna  Aeacidarum  genere  sententia. 

39  XIII.  Atque  etiam  si  quid  singuli  temporibus 
adducti  hosti  promiserunt,  est  in  eo  ipso  fides  con- 
servanda,  ut  primo  Punico  bello  Regulus  captus  a 
Poenis  cum  de  captivis  commutandis  Romam  missus 
esset  iurassetque  se  rediturum,  primum,  ut  venit, 
captivos  reddendos  in  senatu  non  censuit,  deinde, 
cum  retineretur  a  propinquis  et  ab  amicis,  ad  suppli- 
cium  redire  maluit  quam  fidem  hosti  datam  fallere. 

40  [Secundo  autem  Punico  bello  post  Cannensem 
pugnam  quos  decem  Hannibal  Romam  astrictos 
misit  iure  iurando  se  redituros  esse,  nisi  de  redi- 
mendis  iis,  qui  capti  erant,  impetrassent,  eos  omnes 

^virtvii  h  B"  L  c,  Edd.;  virtute  B'  H  b;  virtutei  Vzhltn, 
42 


ROOK  I.  xii-xiii 

Make  we  the  trial  by  valour  in  arms  and  see  if  Dame 

Fortune 
Wills  it  that  ye  shall  prevail  or  I^  or  what  be  her 

judgment. 
Hear  thou,  too,  this  word,  good  Fabricius:  whose 

valour  soever 
Spared   hath   been   by  the   fortune  of  war — their 

freedom  I  grant  them. 
Such  my  resolve.     I  give  and  present  them  to  you, 

my  brave  Romans ; 
Take  them  back  to  their  homes  ;  the  great  gods' 

blessings  attend  you." 

A  right  kingly  sentiment  this  and  worthy  a  scion  of 
the  Aeacidae. 

XIII.  Again,  if  under  stress  of  circumstances  Fideiity  to  n 
individuals  have  made  any  promise  to  the  enemy,  RT^r'^^!  s 
they  are  bound  to  keep  their  word  even  then.  For 
instance,  in  the  First  Punic  War,  when  Regulus  was 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Carthaginians,  he  was  sent 
to  Rome  on  parole  to  negotiate  an  exchange  of 
prisoners;  he  came  and,  in  the  first  place,  it  was 
he  that  made  the  motion  in  the  senate  that  the 
prisoners  should  not  be  restored ;  and  in  the  second 
place,  when  his  relatives  and  friends  would  have 
kept  him  back,  he  chose  to  return  to  a  death  by 
torture  rather  than  prove  false  to  his  promise,  though 
given  to  an  enemy. 

And  again  in  the  Second  Punic  War,  after  the  (2)  Hannibal's 
Battle  of  Cannae,  Hannibal  sent  to  Rome  ten  Roman  ^^'^°'^^' 
captives  bound  by  an  oath  to  return  to  him,  if  they 
did  not  succeed  in  ransoming  his  prisoners ;  and  as 
long  as  any  one  of  them  hved,  the  censors  kept  them 
all  degraded  and  disfranchised,  because  they  were 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

censores,  quoad  quisque  eorum  vixit,  qui  peierassent, 
in  aerariis  reliquerunt  nee  minus  illum,  qui  iuris 
iurandi  fraude  culpam  invenerat.  Cum  enim  Hanni- 
balis  permissu  exisset  de  eastris,  rediit  paulo  post, 
quod  se  oblitum  nescio  quid  diceret ;  deinde  egressus 
e  castris  iure  iurando  se  solutum  putabat,  et  erat 
verbis,  re  non  erat.  Semper  autem  in  fide  quid 
senseris,  non  quid  dixeris,  cogitandum. 

Maximum  autem  exemplum  est  iustitiae  in  hostem 
a  maioribus  nostris  constitutum,  cum  a  Pyrrho  per- 
fuga  senatui  est  polHcitus  se  venenum  regi  daturum 
et  eum  necaturum,  senatus  et  C.  Fabricius  perfugam 
Pyrrho  dedidit.  Ita  ne  hostis  quidem  et  potentis 
et  bellum  ultro  inferentis  interitum  cum  scelere 
approbavit.]^ 
41       Ac  de  bellicis  quidem  officiis  satis  dictum  est. 

Meminerimus  autem  etiam  adversus  infimos  iusti- 
tiam  esse  servandam.  Est  autem  infima  condicio  et 
fortuna  servorum,  quibus  non  male  praecipiunt  qui 
ita  iubent  uti,  ut  mercennariis :  operam  exigendam, 
iusta  praebenda. 

Cum  autem  duobus  modis,  id  est  aut  vi  aut  fraude, 
fiat  iniuria,  fraus  quasi  vulpeculae,  vis  leonis  videtur ; 
utnimque  homine  alienissimum,  sed  fraus  odio  digna 

^Secundo  .  .  .  re  non  erat  om.    L  c;  Sccundo  .  .  .  appro- 
havit  om.  A  B  H  a  b  p,  Edd. 
44 


BOOK  I.  xiii 

guilty  of  perjury  in  not  returning.  And  they  punished 
in  hke  manner  the  one  who  had  incurred  guilt  by  an 
evasion  of  his  oath:  with  Hannibars  permission  this 
man  left  the  camp  and  returned  a  Httle  later  on  the 
pretext  that  he  had  forgotten  something  or  other ; 
and  then,  when  he  left  the  camp  the  second  time,  he 
claimed  that  he  was  released  from  the  obhgation  of 
his  oath ;  and  so  he  was^  according  to  tlie  letter  of  it, 
but  not  according  to  the  spirit.  In  the  matter  of  a 
promise  one  must  always  consider  the  meaning  and 
not  the  mere  words. 

Our  forefathers  have  given  us  another  striking 
example  of  justice  toward  an  enemy :  when  a  de- 
serter  from  Pyrrhus  promised  the  senate  toadminister 
poison  to  the  king  and  thus  work  his  death,  the 
senate  and  Gaius  Fabricius  dehvered  the  deserter 
up  to  Pyrrhus.  Thus  they  stamped  with  their  dis- 
approval  the  treacherous  murder  even  of  an  enemy 
who  was  at  once  powerful,  unprovoked,  aggressive, 
and  successful. 

With  this  I  will  close  my  discussion  of  the  duties 
connected  with  war. 

But  let  us  remember  that  we  must  have  regard  Justicetoward 
for  justice  even  towards  the  humblest.  Now  the 
humblest  station  and  the  poorest  fortune  are  those 
of  slaves ;  and  they  give  us  no  bad  rule  who  bid  us 
treat  our  slaves  as  we  should  our  employees:  they 
must  be  required  to  work ;  they  must  be  given  their 
dues. 

While  wrong  may  be  done,  then,  in  either  of  two  injustice  cf 
waysj  that  is,  by  force  or  by  fraud,  both  are  bestial :  '^yp"'^'''^^- 
fraud  seems  to  belong  to  the  cunning  fox,  force  to 
the  hon;  both   are  wholly  unworthy   of  man,  but 
fraud  is  the  more  contemptible.     But  of  all  forms  of 

4>5 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

maiore.  Totius  autem  iniustitiae  nulla  capitalior  quam 
eorumj  qui  tum,  cum  maxime  fallunt^  id  agunt,  ut 
viri  boni  esse  videantur. 
De  iustitia  satis  dictum. 
Ch.  VII  42  XIV.  DeincepSj  ut  erat  propositum,  de  benefi- 
centia  ac  de  liberalitate  dicatur,  qua  quidem  nihil 
est  naturae  hominis  accommodatius,  sed  habet  multas 
cautiones.  Videndum  est  enim,  primum  ne  obsit 
benignitas  et  iis  ipsis,  quibus  benigne  videbitur  fieri, 
et  ceteris,  deinde  ne  maior  benignitas  sit  quam 
facultates,  tum  ut  pro  dignitate  cuique  tribuatur; 
id  enim  est  iustitiae  fundamentum,  ad  quam  haec 
referenda  sunt  omnia.  Nam  et  qui  gratificantur 
cuipiam,  quod  obsit  illi,  cui  prodesse  velle  videantur, 
non  benefici  neque  liberales,  sed  perniciosi  assenta- 
tores  iudicandi  sunt,  et  qui  aliis  nocent,  ut  in  alios 
liberales  sint,  in  eadem  sunt  iniustitia,  ut  si  in  suam 
rem  aliena  convertant. 
43  Sunt  autem  multi,  et  quidem  cupidi  splendoris  et 
gloriae,  qui  eripiunt  aliis,  quod  aliis  largiantur,  iique 
arbitrantur  se  beneficos  in  suos  amicos  visum  iri,  si 
locupletent  eos  quacumque  ratione.  Id  autem  tan- 
tum  abest  ab  ^  officio,  ut  nihil  magis  officio  possit  esse 
contrarium.  Videndum  est  igitur,  ut  ea  liberalitate 
utamur,  quae  prosit  amicis,  noceat  nemini.  Quare 
L.  Sullae,  C.  Caesaris  pecuniarum  translatio  a  iustis 

'  ab  c,  Edd.;  not  in  A  B  U  L  b. 
46 


BOOK  I.  xiii-xiv 

injustice,  none  is  more  flagrant  than  that  of  the 
hypocrite  who^  at  the  very  moment  when  he  is  most 
false,  makes  it  his  business  to  appear  virtuous. 

This  must  conclude  our  discussion  of  justice. 

XIV.  Next  in  order,  as  outhned  above,  let  us  Justice  and 
speak  of  kindness  and  generosity.  Nothing  appeals 
more  to  the  best  in  human  nature  than  this,  but  it 
calls  for  the  exercise  of  caution  in  many  particulars : 
we  must,  in  the  fii*st  place,  see  to  it  that  our  act  of 
kindness  shall  not  prove  an  injury  either  to  the 
object  of  our  beneficence  or  to  others;  in  the  second 
place,  that  it  shall  not  be  beyond  our  means ;  and 
finally,  that  it  shall  be  proportioned  to  the  worthiness 
of  the  recipient;  for  this  is  the  corner-stone  of 
justice;  and  by  the  standard  of  justice  all  acts  of 
kindness  must  be  measured.  For  those  who  confer 
a  harmful  favour  upon  some  one  whom  they  seem- 
ingly  wish  to  help  are  to  be  accounted  not  generous 
benefactors  but  dangerous  sycophants;  and  likewise 
those  who  injure  one  man,  in  order  to  be  generous 
to  another,  are  guilty  of  the  same  injustice  as  if 
they  diverted  to  their  own  accounts  the  property  of 
their  neighbours. 

Now,  there  are  many — and  especially  those  who  Generosity  must 
are  ambitious  for  eminence  and  glory — who  rob  one  (i)  hurtful  to  uo 
to  enrich  another ;  and  they  expect  to  be  thought  °°®> 
generous  towards  their  friends,  if  they  put  them  in 
the  way  of  getting  rich,  no  matter  by  what  means. 
Such   conduct,  however,  is  so   remote   from  moral 
duty  that  nothing  can  be  more  completely  opposed 
to  duty.     We  must,  therefore,  take  care  to  indulge 
only  in  such  hberahty  as  will  help  our  friends  and 
hurt  no  one.    The  conveyance  of  property  by  Lucius 
SuUa  and  Gaius  Caesar  from  its  rightful  owners  to 

47 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
dominis  ad  alienos  non  debet  liberalis  videri;  nihil 
est  enim  liberale,  quod  non  idem  iustum. 

44  Alter  loeus  erat  cautionis,  ne  benignitas  maior 
esset  quam  facultates,  quod,  qui  benigniores  volunt 
esse,  quam  res  patitur,  primum  in  eo  peccant,  quod 
miuriosi  sunt  in  proximos ;  quas  enim  copias  his  ^  et 
suppeditari  aequius  est  et  relinqui,  eas  transfex-unt 
ad  ahenos.  Inest  autem  in  taU  Uberalitate  cupiditas 
plerumque  rapiendi  et  auferendi  per  iniuriam,  ut  ad 
largiendum  suppetant  copiae.  Videre  etiam  hcet 
plerosque  non  tam  natura  liberales  quam  quadam 
gloria  ductos,  ut  benefici  videantur,  facere  multa, 
quae  proficisci  ab  ostentatione  magis  quam  a  volun- 
tate  videantur.  Tahs  autem  simulatio  vanitati  esl 
coniunctior  quam  aut  hberahtati  aut  honestati. 

45  Tertium  est  propositum,  ut  in  beneficentia  dilectus 
esset  dignitatis ;  in  quo  et  mores  eius  erunt  spectandi, 
in  quem  beneficium  conferetur,  et  animus  erga  nos  et 
communitas  ac  societas  vitae  et  ad  nostras  utihtates 
officia  ante  collata ;  quae  ut  concurrant  omnia,  opta- 
bile  est ;  si  minus,  plures  causae  maioresque  ponderis 
plus  habebunt. 

46  XV.  Quoniam  autem  vivitur  non   cum  perfectis 

^his  H  a,  Edd.;  iis  A.Bh;  eish  c. 
48 


BOOK  I.  xiv-xv 

the  hands  of  strangers  should^  for  that  reason,  not 
be  regarded  as  generosity ;  for  nothing  is  generous, 
if  it  is  not  at  the  same  time  just. 

The  second  point  for  the  exercise  of  caution  was  (2)  within  our 
that  our  beneficence  should  not  exceed  our  means; 
for  those  who  wish  to  be  more  open-handed  than 
tlieir  circumstances  permit  are  guilty  of  two  faults  : 
first,  they  do  wrong  to  their  next  of  kin;  for  they 
transfer  to  strangers  property  which  would  more 
justly  be  placed  at  their  service  or  bequeathed  to 
them.  And  second,  such  generosity  too  often  en- 
genders  a  passion  for  plundering  and  misappropriating 
property,  in  order  to  supply  the  means  for  making 
large  gifts.  We  may  also  observe  that  a  great  many 
people  do  many  things  that  seem  to  be  inspired 
more  by  a  spirit  of  ostentation  than  by  heart-felt 
kindness;  for  such  people  are  not  really  generous 
but  are  rather  influenced  by  a  sort  of  ambition  to 
make  a  show  of  being  open-handed.  Such  a  pose 
is  nearer  akin  to  hypocrisy  than  to  generosity  or 
moi'al  goodness. 

The  third  rule  laid  down  was  that  in  acts  of  (3)  according  tc 
kindness  we  should  weigh  with  discrimination  the 
worthiness  of  the  object  of  our  benevolence;  we 
should  take  into  consideration  his  moral  character, 
his  attitude  toward  us,  the  intimacy  of  his  relations 
to  us,  and  our  common  social  ties,  as  well  as  the 
services  he  has  hitherto  rendered  in  our  interest. 
It  is  to  be  desired  that  all  these  considerations 
should  be  combined  in  the  same  person;  if  they 
are  not,  then  the  more  numerous  and  the  more 
important  considerations  must  have  the  greater 
weight. 

XV.  Now,  the  men  we  hve  with  are  not  perfect 
E  49 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

hominibus  planeque  sapientibus,  sed  cum  iis,  in  quibus 

praeclare  agitur  si  sunt  simulacra  virtutis,  etiam  hoc 

intellegendum    puto,  neminem  omnino  esse  negle- 

gendumj  in  quo  aliqua  significatio  virtutis  appareat, 

colendum  autem  esse  ita  quemque  maxime,  ut  quis- 

que  maxime   virtutibus  his  lenioribus   erit  ornatus, 

modestia,  temperantia,  hac  ipsa,  de  qua  multa  iam 

dicta  sunt,  iustitia.     Nam  fortis  animus  et  magnus 

in  homine  non  perfecto  nec  sapiente^  ferventior  ple- 

rumque    est,  illae    virtutes   bonum  virum  videntur 

potius  attingere. 

Atque  haec  in  moribus. 

47        De  benivolentia  autem,  quam  quisque  habeat  erga 

nos,  primum  illud  est  in  officio,  ut  ei  plurimum  tri- 

buamus,  a  quo  plurimum  diligamur,^  sed  benivolen- 

tiam   non   adulescentulorum   more   ardore  quodam 

amoris,  sed  stabilitate  potius  et  constantia  iudicemus. 

Sin  erunt  merita,  ut  non  ineunda,  sed  referenda  sit 

gratia,  maior  quaedam  cura  adhibenda  est;  nullum 

enim  officium  referenda  gratia  magis  necessarium 

est. 

Quodsi  ea,  quae  utenda  acceperis,  maiore  mensura, 

si  modo  possis,  iubet   reddere    Hesiodus,  quidnam 

beneficio  provocati  facere  debemus  ?  an  imitari  agros 

fertiles,  qui  multo  plus  efferunt  quam  acceperunt? 

Etenim  si  in  eos,  quos  speramus  nobis  profuturos, 

non  dubitamus  officia  conferre,  quales  in  eos  esse 

debemus,  qui  iam  profuerunt  ?  Nam  cum  duo  genera 

'  sapiente  MSS. ;  sapienti  Wesenberg-,  Bt. 
2  diligamur  A  B^  H  L  b  c ;  diligiynur  BS  Bt'. 

50 


BOOK  I.  XV 

and  ideally  wise,  but  men  who  do  very  well,  if  there 
be  found  in  them  but  the  semblanee  of  virtue.  I 
therefore  think  that  this  is  to  be  taken  for  granted. 
that  no  one  should  be  entirely  neglected  who  shows 
any  trace  of  virtue ;  but  the  more  a  man  is  endowed 
with  these  finer  virtues — temperance,  self-control, 
and  that  very  justice  about  which  so  much  has  al- 
ready  beensaid — the  more  lie  deserves  to  befavoured. 
I  do  not  mention  fortitude,  for  a  courageous  spirit 
in  a  man  who  has  not  attained  perfection  and  ideal 
wisdom  is  generally  too  impetuous ;  it  is  those  other 
virtues  that  seem  more  particularly  to  mark  the 
good  man. 

So  much  in  regard  to  the  character  of  the  object 
of  our  beneficence. 

But  as  to  the  affection  which  anyone  may  have  Motives  to 
for  us,  it  is  the  first  demand  of  duty  that  we  do  ^i"^o°|i*>'= 
most  for  him  who  loves  us  most;   but  we  should 
measure  affection,  not  Hke  youngsters,  by  the  ardour 
of  its  passion,  but  rather  by  its  strength  and  con- 
stancy.     But  if  there  shall  be  obhgations  already  (2)  requital, 
incurred,  so  that  kindness  is  not  to  begin  with  us, 
but  to  be  requited,  still  greater  dihgencCj  it  seems, 
is  called  for;  for  no  duty  is  more  imperative  than 
that  of  proving  one's  gratitude. 

But  if,  as  Hesiod  bids,  one  is  to  repay  with  inter- 
est,  if  possible,  what  one  has  borrowed  in  time 
of  need,  what,  pray,  ought  we  to  do  when  challenged 
by  an  unsought  kindness?  Shall  we  not  imitate 
the  fruitful  fields,  which  return  more  than  they 
receive?  For  if  we  do  not  hesitate  to  confer  fa- 
vours  upon  those  who  we  hope  will  be  of  help  to 
us,  how  ought  we  to  deal  with  those  who  have  al- 
ready  helped  us  ?  For  generosity  is  of  two  kinds : 
e2  51 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

liberalitatis  sint,  unum  dandi  beneficii,  alterum  red 
dendi,  demus  necne,  in  nostra  potestate  est^  non 
rcddere  viro  bono  non  licet,  modo^  id  facere  possit 
sine  iniuria. 

49  Acceptorum  autem  beneficiorum  sunt  dilectus  ha- 
bendi,  nec  dubium^  quin  maximo  cuique  plurimum 
debeatur.  In  quo  tamen  in  primis,  quo  quisque 
animo,  studio,  benivolentia  facerit,  ponderandum  est. 
Multi  enim  faciunt  multa  temeritate  quadam  sine 
iudicio  vel  morbo  in  omnes  vel  repentino  quodam 
quasi  vento  impetu  animi  incitati;  quae  beneficia 
aeque  magna  non  sunt  habenda  atque  ea,  quae  iudi- 
cio,  considerate  constanterque  delata  sunt. 

Sed  in  collocando  beneficio  et  in  referenda  gratia, 
si  cetera  paria  sunt,  hoc  maxime  officii  est,  ut 
quisque  maxime  opis  indigeat,  ita  ei  potissimum 
opitulari;  quod  contra  fit  a  plerisque;  a  quo  enim 
plurimum  sperant/  etiamsi  ille  iis  non  eget,  tamen 
ei  potissimum  inserviunt. 

50  XVI.  Optime  autem  societas  hominum  coniuncti- 
oque  servabitur,  si,  ut  quisque  erit  coniunctissimus, 
ita  in  eum  benignitatis  plurimum  conferetur. 

Sed,  quae  naturae  principia  sint  communitatis  et 
societatis  humanae,  repetendum  videtur  altius;  est 
enim  primum,  quod  cernitur  in  universi  generis  hu- 
mani  societate.     Eius  autem  vinculum  est  ratio  et 

^  modo  A  H  L  b  c ;  5/  viodo  B. 

^sperant  Marg.  A,  Edd.;  spectant  A  b  {spemant  Marg.  b). 
52 


BOOK  I.  xv-xvi 

doing  a  kindness  and  requiting  one.  Whether  we 
do  the  kindness  or  not  is  optional;  but  to  fail  to 
requite  one  is  not  allowable  to  a  good  manj  provided 
he  can  make  the  requital  without  violating  the  rights 
of  others. 

Furthermore,  we  must  make  some  discrimination 
between  favours  received ;  for^  as  a  matter  of  course, 
the  greater  the  favour^  the  greater  is  the  obhga- 
tion.  But  in  deciding  this  we  must  above  all  give 
due  weight  to  the  spirit,  the  devotion,  the  affection, 
that  prompted  the  favour.  For  many  people  often 
do  favours  impulsively  for  everybody  without  dis- 
crimination^  prompted  by  a  morbid  sort  of  benevo- 
lence  or  by  a  sudden  impulse  of  the  heart,  shifting  as 
the  wind.  Such  acts  of  generosity  are  not  to  be  so 
highly  esteemed  as  those  which  are  performed  with 
judgmentj  dehberationj  and  mature  consideration. 

But  in  bestowing  a  kindness,  as  well  as  in  making 
a  requitalj  the  first  rule  of  duty  requires  us — other 
things  being  equal — to  lend  assistance  preferably  to 
people  in  proportion  to  their  individual  need.  Most 
people  adopt  the  contrary  course :  they  put  them- 
selves  most  eagerly  at  the  service  of  the  one  from  (3)  seif-interest, 
whom  they  hope  to  receive  the  greatest  favours, 
even  though  he  has  no  need  of  their  help. 

XVI.  The  interests  of  society,  however,  and  its  W  reiationship, 
common  bonds  will  be  best  conserved^  if  kindness 
be  shown  to  each  individual  in  proportion  to  the 
closeness  of  his  relationship. 

But  it  seems  we  must  trace  back  to  their  ultimate  The  principles  of 
sources  the  principles  of  fellowship  and  society  that  ^*'^'*"  society. 
nature  has  estabUshed  among  men.  The  first  principle  i 

is  that  which  is  found  in  the  connection  subsisting  j 

between  all  the  members  of  the  human  race;  and  j 

53 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

oratio,  quae  docendoj  discendo,  communicando,  di- 
sceptandoj  iudicando  conciliat  inter  se  homines  con- 
iungitque  naturali  quadam  societate ;  neque  ulla  re 
longius  absumus  a  natura  ferarum,  in  quibus  inesse 
fortitudinem  saepe  dicimus,  ut  in  equis,  in  leonibus, 
iustitiam,  aequitatem,  bonitatem  non  dicimus;  sunt 
enim  rationis  et  orationis  expertes. 

51  Ac  latissime  quidem  patens  hominibus  inter  ipsos, 
omnibus  inter  omnes  societas  haec  est ;  in  qua 
omnium  rerum,  quas  ad  communem  hominum  usum 
natura  genuit,  est  servanda  communitas,  ut,  quae 
discripta^  sunt  legibus  et  iure  civili,  haec  ita  tene- 
antur,  ut  sit  constitutum  legibus  ipsis,^  cetera  sic 
observentur,  ut  in  Graecorum  proverbio  est,  amico- 
rum  esse  communia  omnia.  Omnium^  autem  com- 
munia  hominum  videntur  ea,  quae  sunt  generis  eius, 
quod  ab  Ennio  positum  in  una  re  transferri  in 
permultas  potest : 

(Teiephus?)  Homo,  qui  erranti  comiter  monstnit  viam, 

Vahlen2,  Fab.  ^  i  ,  n  i  ,  -, ,       r 

inc.  398  Quasi  lumcn  de  suo  iumine  accendat,  facit. 

Nihilo  minus  ipsi  liicet/  cum  illi  accenderit. 

Una  ex   re   satis  praecipit,  ut,  quicquid  sine  detri- 

52  mento  commodari  possit,  id  tribuatur  vel  ignoto;  ex 

quo  sunt  illa  communia :  non  prohibere  aqua  proflu- 

ente,  pati  ab  igne  ignem  capere,  si  qui  velit,consilium 

^  '  discripta  H  b,  Edd. ;  descripta  A  B  L  a  c. 

"  legibus  ipsis  Gulielmus,  Edd. ;  e  {ex  c)  quibtcs  tpsis  MSS. 

^  Omnium  Zumpt,  Edd. ;  07nnia  MSS. 

*  ipsi  lucet  Edd. ;  ipsi  luceat  A  B  H  b  c ;  ipsi  ut  luceat  a. 

^KOwa.  Th.  (twv^  <pl\u3v  (Plato,   Phaedr.   279  C;  Aristotle, 
Eth.  Vni,  11). 

54 


BOOK  I.  xvi 

that  bond  of  connection  is  reason  and  speech^  which 
by  the  processes  of  teaching  and  learning,  of  com- 
municatingj  discussing^  and  reasoning  associate  men 
together  and  unite  them  in  a  sort  of  natural  frater- 
nity.  In  no  other  particular  are  we  farther  removed 
from  the  nature  of  beasts ;  for  we  admit  that  thcy 
may  have  courage  (horses  and  lions,  for  example); 
but  we  do  not  admit  that  they  have  justice,  equity, 
and  goodness ;  for  they  are  not  endowed  with  reason 
or  speech. 
51  This,  then,  is  the  most  comprehensive  bond  that 
unites  together  men  as  men  and  all  to  all ;  and 
under  it  the  common  right  to  all  things  that  nature 
has  produced  for  the  common  use  of  man  is  to  be 
maintained,  with  the  understanding  that,  while 
everything  assigned  as  private  property  by  the 
statutes  and  by  civil  law  shall  be  so  held  as  pre- 
scribed  by  those  same  laws,  everything  else  shall  be 
regarded  in  the  light  indicated  by  the  Greek  pro- 
verb:  "Amongst  friends  all  things  in  common."^ 
Furthermore,  we  find  the  common  property  of  all 
men  in  things  of  the  sort  defined  by  Ennius;  and 
though  restricted  by  him  to  one  instance,  the  prin- 
ciple  may  be  applied  very  generally : 

"Who  kindly  sets  a  wand'rer  on  his  way 
Does  e'en  as  if  he  lit  another's  lamp  by  his: 
No  less  shines  his,  when  he  his  friend's  hath  ht." 

In  this  example  he  effectively  teaches  us  all  to  bestow 
even  upon  a  stranger  what  it  costs  us  nothing  to  give. 
.52  On  this  principle  we  have  the  following  maxims: 

"Deny  no  one  the  water  that  flows  by;"  Let 
anyone  who  will  take  fire  from  our  fire;"  '  Honest 
counsel  give  to  one  who  is  in  doubt;" 

55 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
fidele  deliberanti  dare,  quae  sunt  iis  utilia,  qui  acci- 
piunt,  danti  non  molesta.  Quare  et  his  utendum 
est  et  semper  aliquid  ad  communem  utilitatem 
afFerendum.  Sed  quoniam  copiae  parvae  singulorum 
sunt,  eorum  autem,  qui  his  egeant,  infinita  est  multi- 
tudo,  vulgaris  liberalitas  referenda  est  ad  illum  Ennii 
finem:  Nihilo  minus  ipsi  lucet/'  ut  facultas  sit,  qua 
in  nostros  simus  liberales. 

53  XVII.  Gradus  autem  plures  sunt  societatis  homi- 
nura.  Ut  enim  ab  illa  infinita  discedatur,  propior^ 
est  eiusdem  gentis,  nationis,  linguae,  qua  maxime 
homines  coniunguntur ;  interius  etiam  est  eiusdem 
esse  civitatis ;  multa  enim  sunt  civibus  inter  se  com- 
munia,  forum,  fana,  porticus,  viae,  leges,  iura,  iudicia, 
sufFragia,  consuetudines  praeterea  et  famiUaritates 
multisque  cum  multis  res  rationesque  contractae. 

Artior  vero  coUigatio  est  societatis  propinquorum  ; 
ab  illa  enim  immensa  societate  humani  generis  in 

54  exiguum  angustumque  concluditur.  Nam  cum  sit 
hoc  natura  commune  animantium,  ut  habeant  lubi- 
dinem  procreandi,  prima  societas  in  ipso  coniugio  est, 
proxima  in  liberis,  deinde  una  domus,  communia 
omnia ;  id  autem  est  principium  urbis  et  quasi  semi- 
narium  rei  pubhcae.  Sequuntur  fratrum  coniun- 
ctiones,  post  consobrinorum  sobrinorumque,  qui  cum 
una  domo  iam  capi  non  possint,  in  ahas  donios  tam- 

^  propior  A  a  c  (ex  corr.),  Edd.;  proprior  B  H  b. 

56 


BOOK  I.  xvi-xvii 

for  such  acts  are  useful  to  the  recipient  and  cause  the 
giver  no  loss.  We  should,  therefore,  adopt  these 
principles  and  always  be  contributing  something  to 
the  common  weal.  But  since  the  resources  of  indi- 
viduals  are  limited  and  the  number  of  the  needy  is 
infinite,  this  spirit  of  universal  Uberality  must  be 
regulated  according  to  that  test  of  Ennius —  '  No 
less  shines  his" — in  order  that  we  raay  continue  to 
have  the  means  for  being  generous  to  our  friends. 

XVII.  Then,  too,  there  are  a  great  many  degrees  Degrees  of  sociai 
of  closeness  or  remoteness  in  human  society.  To  ^i)'\iuzenship, 
proceed  beyond  the  universal  bond  of  our  common 
humanity,  there  is  the  closer  one  of  belonging  to  the 
same  people,  tribe,  and  tongue,  by  which  men  are 
very  closely  bound  together ;  it  is  a  still  closer  rela- 
tion  to  be  citizens  of  the  same  city-state ;  for  fellow- 
citizens  have  much  in  common — forum,  temples, 
colonnadeSj  streets,  statutes,  laws,  courts,  rights  of 
suffrage,  to  say  nothing  of  social  and  friendly  circles 
and  diverse  business  relations  with  many. 

But  a  still  closer  social  union  exists  between  kin-  (2)  kinship, 
dred.  Starting  with  that  infinite  bond  of  union  of  the 
human  race  in  general,  the  conception  is  now  confined 
to  a  small  and  narrow  circle.  For  since  the  repro- 
ductive  instinct  is  by  nature's  gift  the  common  pos- 
session  of  all  Hving  creatures,  the  first  bond  of  union 
is  that  between  husband  and  wife ;  the  next,  that 
between  parents  and  children;  then  we  find  one 
home,  with  everything  in  common.  And  this  is  the 
foundation  of  civil  government,  the  nursery,  as  it 
were,  of  the  state.  Then  follow  the  bonds  between 
brothers  and  sisters,  and  next  those  of  first  and  then 
of  second  cousins ;  and  when  they  can  no  longer  be 
sheltered  under  one  roof,  they  go  out  into  other 

57 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quam  in  colonias  exeunt.  Sequuntur  conubia  et 
affinitates,  ex  quibus  etiam  plures  propinqui ;  quae 
propagatio  et  suboles  origo  est  rerum  publicarum. 
Sanguinis  autem  coniunctio  et  benivolentia  devincit 

55  homines  et^  caritate;  magnum  est  enim  eadem  ha- 
bere  monumenta  maiorum,  eisdem  uti  sacris,  sepulcra 
habere  communia. 

Sed  omnium  societatum  nulla  praestantior  est, 
nulla  firmior,  quam  cum  viri  boni  moribus  similes 
sunt  familiaritate  coniuncti ;  illud  enim  honestum, 
quod  saepe  dicimus,  etiam  si  in  alio  cernimus,  [tamen]^ 
nos  movet  atque  illi,  in  quo  id  inesse  videtur,  amicos 

56  facit.  Et  quamquam  omnis  virtus  nos  ad  se  alHcit 
facitque,  ut  eos  diligamus,  in  quibus  ipsa  inesse  vi- 
deatur,  tamen  iustitia  et  liberahtas  id  maxime  efficit. 
Nihil  autem  est  amabilius  nec  copulatius  quam  morum 
simihtudo  bonorum;  in  quibus  enim  eadem  studia 
sunt,  eaedem  voluntates,  in  iis  fit  ut  aeque  quisque 
altero  delectetur  ac  se  ipso,  efficiturque  id,  quod 
Pythagoras  vult  in  amicitia,  ut^  unus  fiat  ex  pluribus. 

Magna  etiam  illa  communitas  est,  quae  conficitur 
ex  beneficiis  ultro  et  citro  datis  acceptis,  quae  et 
mutua  et  grata  dum  sunt,  inter  quos  ea  sunt,  firma 
devinciuntur  societate. 

57  Sed  cum  omnia  ratione  anlmoque  lustraris,  omnium 
societatum  nulla  est  gravior,  nulla  carior  quam  ea, 
quae  cum  re  pubhca  est  uni  cuique  nostrum.     Cari 

^  ei  Perizonius,  Edd,;  not  in  MSS. 

'^tamen  MSS.,  Miiller;  del.  Unger,  Bt.,  Heine. 

^efficiturque  id  quod  P.  ultimum  in  amicitia  pictavit  ut 
Nonius  (s.v,  uUimum)  (i.e.  Pythagoras's  ideal  of  friendsliip 
is  realized). 
58 


BOOK  I.  xvii 

homes,  as  into  colonies.  Then  follow  between  these, 
in  turn^  marriages  and  connections  by  marriage,  and 
from  these  again  a  new  stock  of  relations ;  and  from 
this  propagation  and  after-growth  states  have  theii 
beginnings.    The  bonds  of  common  blood  hold  men 

55  fast  through  good-will  and  afFection;  for  it  means 
much  to  share  in  common  the  same  family  traditions, 
the  same  forms  of  domestic  worship,  and  the  same 
ancestral  tombs. 

But  of  all  the  bonds  of  fellowship,  there  is  none  (3)  friendship, 
more  noble,  none  more  powerful  than  when  good 
men  of  congenial  character  are  joined  in  intimate 
friendship ;  for  really,  if  we  discover  in  another  that 
moral  goodness  on  which  I  dwell  so  much,  it  attracts 
us  and  makes  us  friends  to  the  one  in  whose  character 

56  it  seems  to  dwell.  And  while  every  virtue  attracts 
us  and  makes  us  love  those  who  seem  to  possess  it, 
still  j  ustice  and  generosity  do  so  most  of  all.  Nothing, 
moreover,  is  more  conducive  to  love  and  intimacy 
than  compatibility  of  character  in  good  men;  for 
when  two  people  have  the  same  ideals  and  the  same 
tastes,  it  is  a  natural  consequence  that  each  loves  the 
other  as  himself ;  and  the  result  is,  as  Pythagoras 
requires  of  ideal  friendship,  that  several  are  united 
in  one. 

Another  strong  bond  of  fellowship  is  effected  by 
mutual  interchange  of  kind  services ;  and  as  long  as 
these  kindnesses  are  mutual  and  acceptable,  those 
between  whom  they  are  interchanged  are  united  by 
the  ties  of  an  enduring  intimacy. 

57  But  when  with  a  rational  spirit  you  liave  surveyed  (4)ioveof 
the  whole  field,  there  is  no  social  relation  among  *^°'^"  ^^' 
them  all    more    close,   none  more    dear  than  that 
which  links  each  one  of  us  with  our  country.  Parents 

59 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

sunt  parentes,  cari  liberi,  propinqui,  familiares,  sed 
omnes  omnium  caritates  patria  una  complexa  est, 
pro  qua  quis  bonus  dubitet  mortemt  oppetere,  si  ei 
sit  profuturus?  Quo  est  detestabilior  istorum  im- 
manitas,  qui  lacerarunt  omni  scelere  patriam  et  in  ea 
funditus  delenda  occupati  et  sunt  et  fuerunt. 

58  Sed  si  contentio  quaedam  et  comparatio  fiat,  qui- 
bus  plurimum  tribuendum  sit  officii,  principes  sint 
patria  et  parentes,  quorum  beneficiis  maximis  obli- 
gati  sumus,  proximi  liberi  totaque  domus,  quae  spectat 
in  nos  solos  neque  aliud  ullum  potest  habere  perfu- 
gium,  deinceps  bene  convenientes  propinqui,  qui- 
buscum  communis  etiam  fortuna  plerumque  est. 

Quam  ob  rem  necessaria  praesidia  vitae  debentur 
iis  maxime,  quos  ante  dixi,  vita  autem  victusque 
communis,  consilia,  sermones,  cohortationes,  consol?. 
tiones,  interdum  etiam  obiurgationes  in  amicitiis 
vigent  maxime,  estque  ea  iucundissima  amicitia,  quam 
similitudo  morum  coniugavit. 

59  XVIII.  Sed  in  his  omnibus  officiis  tribuendis 
videndum  erit,  quid  cuique  maxime  necesse  sit,  et 
quid  quisque  vel  sine  nobis  aut  possit  consequi  aut 
non  possit.  Ita  non  iidem  erunt  necessitudinum 
gradus,  qui  temporum;  suntque  officia,  quae  ahis 
magis  quam  aliis  debeantur;  ut  vicinum  citius  adiu- 
veris  in  fructibus  percipiendis  quam  aut  fratrem  aut 

(^Antony  and  his  associates.        ''Caesar,  Clodius,  Catiline. 

60 


BOOK  I.  xvii-xviii 

are  dear;  dear  are  childrenj  relatives^  friends;  but 
one  native  land  embraces  all  our  loves ;  and  who  that 
is  true  would  hesitate  to  give  his  life  for  her,  if  by 
his  death  he  could  render  her  a  service  ?  So  much 
the  more  execrable  are  those  monsters  who  have 
torn  their  fatherland  to  pieces  with  every  form  of 
outrage  and  who  are^  and  have  bcen''  engaged  in 
compassing  her  utter  destruction. 

Now,  if  a  contrast  and  comparison  were  to  be 
made  to  find  out  where  most  of  our  moral  obligation 
is  due,  country  would  come  first^  and  parents;  for 
their  services  have  laid  us  under  the  heaviest  obhga- 
tion ;  next  come  children  and  the  whole  family,  who 
look  to  us  alone  for  support  and  can  have  no  other 
protection ;  finally,  our  kinsmen,  with  whom  we  Hve 
on  good  terms  and  with  whom^  for  the  most  part, 
our  lot  is  one. 

All  needful  material  assistance  is,  therefore,  due 
first  of  all  to  those  whom  I  have  named ;  but  inti- 
mate  relationship  of  hfe  and  living,  counsel,  conversa- 
tion,  encouragementj  comfort^  and  sometimes  even 
reproof  flourish  best  in  friendships.  And  that  friend- 
ship  is  sweetest  which  is  cemented  by  congeniality 
of  character. 

XVIII.  But  in  the  performance  of  all  these  duties  Duties  maj^  var^ 
we  shall  have  to  consider  what  is  most  needful  in  ckcumstancef. 
each  indivldual  case  and  what  each  individual  person 
can  or  cannot  procure  without  our  help.  In  this 
way  we  shall  find  that  the  claims  of  social  relation- 
shipj  in  its  various  degrees,  are  not  identical  with 
the  dictates  of  circumstances ;  for  there  are  obliga- 
tions  that  are  due  to  one  individual  rather  than 
to  another:  for  example,  one  would  sooner  assist 
a  neighbour  in  gathering  his  harvest  than  either 

61 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

familiarem,  at,  si  lis  in  iudicio  sit,  propinquum  potius 
et  amicum  quam  vicinum  defenderis.  Haec  igitur 
et  talia  circumspicienda  sunt  in  omni  officio  [et 
consuetudo  exercitatioque  capiendaj/  ut  boni  ratioci- 
natores  officiorum  esse  possimus  et  addendo  dedu- 
cendoque^  videre,  quae  reliqui  summa  fiat,  ex  quo, 
quantum  cuique  debeatur,  intellegas. 

60  Sed  ut  nec  medici  nec  imperatores  nec  oratores, 
quamvis  artis  praecepta  perceperint,  quicquam  magna 
laude  dignum  sine  usu  et  exercitatione  consequi  pos- 
sunt,  sic  officii  conservandi  praecepta  traduntur  illa 
quidem,  ut  facimus  ipsi,  sed  rei  magnitudo  usum 
quoque  exercitationemque  desiderat. 

Atque  ab  iis^  rebus,  quae  sunt  in  iure  societatis 
humanae,  quem  ad  modum  ducatur  lionestum,  ex 
quo  aptum  est  officium,  satis  fere  diximus. 

61  Intelligendum  autem  est,  cum  proposita  sint  ge- 

nera  quattuor,  e  quibus  honestas  officiumque  manaret, 

splendidissimum  videri,  quod  animo  magno  elatoque 

humanasque  res  despiciente  factum  sit.  Itaque  in  pro- 

bris  maxime  in  promptu  est  si  quid  tale  dici  potest: 

"  Vos  enim,*  iuvenes,  animum  geritis  muliebrem, 
Mi   >.     .        "   .  .,.5 
illa     virgo     vin 

et  si  quid  eius  modi : 

Salmacida,  spolia  sine  sudore  et  sanguine. 

Contraque  in  laudibus,  quae  magno  animo  et  fortiter 

^  et .  .  .  capienda  om.  Facciolati,  Edd. 

^  deducendoqzie  p;  duccndoqiie  A  B  H  L  a  b  (superscr 
sec.  m.  demendd) ;  demendoque  c. 

3«sEdd.;  AwMSS. 

*enim  A  B  H  b  c ;  etenim  a. 

^  illa"   virgo   "viri"    Ed.;  illa   virgo  vtrt  MSS.;  virago 
Orelli. 


^  Cloelia  (see  Index). 


62 


BOOK  I.  xviii 

a  brother  or  a  friend;  but  should  it  be  a  case  in 
court,  one  would  defend  a  kinsman  and  a  friend 
rather  than  a  neighbour.  Such  questions  as  these 
must,  therefore^  be  taken  into  consideration  in  every 
act  of  moral  duty  [and  we  must  acquire  the  habit 
and  keep  it  up],  in  order  to  become  good  calculators 
of  duty,  able  by  adding  and  subtracting  to  strike  a 
balance  correctly  and  find  out  just  how  much  is  due 
to  each  individual. 

But  as  neither  physicians  nor  generals  nor  orators 
can  achieve  any  signal  success  without  experience 
and  practice,  no  matter  how  well  they  may  under- 
stand  the  theory  of  their  profession^  so  the  rules  for 
the  discharge  of  duty  are  formulated,  it  is  true,  as  I 
am  doing  now^  but  a  matter  of  such  importance 
requires  experience  also  and  practice. 

This  must  close  our  discussion  of  the  ways  in 
which  moral  goodness,  on  which  duty  depends,  is 
developed  from  those  principles  which  hold  good  in 
human  society. 

We  must  reahze,  however,  that  while  we  have  set  C.  Fortitude 
down  four  cardinal  virtues  from  which  as  sources 
moral  rectitude  and  moral  duty  emanate,  that 
achievement  is  most  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world  which  is  won  with  a  spirit  great,  exaltedj  and 
superior  to  the  vicissitudes  of  earthly  Hfe.  And  so, 
when  we  wish  to  hurl  a  taunt,  the  very  first  to  rise  to 
our  Hps  is,  if  possible,  something  Hke  this : 

For  ye,  young  men^  show  a  womanish  soul,  yon 
maiden^  a  man's;" 
and  this: 

Thou  son  of  Salmacis,  win  spoils  that  cost  nor 
sweat  nor  blood." 
When,  on  the  other  hand,  we  wish  to  pay  a  compli- 

63 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

excellenterque  gesta  sunt,  ea  nescio  quo  modo  quasi 
pleniore  ore  laudamus.  Hinc  rhetorum  campus  de 
Marathone,  Salammej  Plataeis,  Thermopylis,  Leu- 
ctris,  hinc  noster  Cocles/  hinc  Decii,  hinc  Cn.  et  P. 
Scipiones,  hinc  M.  MarcelluSj  innumerabiles  alii, 
maximeque  ipse  populus  Romanus  animi  magnitu- 
dine  excelHt.  Declaratur  autem  studium  belHcae 
gloriae,  quod  statuas  quoque  videmus  ornatu  fere 
militari. 
62  XIX.  Sed  ea  animi  elatio,  quae  cernitur  in  pericuhs 
et  laboribuSj  si  iustitia  vacat  pugnatque  non  pro  salute 
communi,  sed  pro  suis  commodisj  in  vitio  est;  non 
modo  enim  id  virtutis  non  est,  sed  est  potius  imma- 
nitatls  omnem  humanitatem  repellentis.  Itaque 
probe  definitur  a  Stoicis  fortitudo,  cum  eam  virtutem 
esse  dicunt  propugnantem  pro  aequitate.  Quocirca 
nemo,  qui  fortitudinis  gloriam  consecutus  est  insidiis 
et  malitia,  laudem  est  adeptus;  nihil  enim^  hone- 
stum  esse  potest,  quod  iustitia  vacat. 
Menex.  gg  Pracclarum  igitur  illud  Platonis:  Non/*  inquit, 
Lachw         '  solum  scientia,  quae  est  remota  ab  iustitia,  calHdi- 

107  B 

tas  potius  quam  sapientia  est  appeHanda,  verum 
etiam  animus  paratus  ad  periculum,  si  sua  cupiditate, 
non  utilitate  communi  impeUitur,  audaciae  potius 
nomen  habeat  quam  fortitudinis."  Itaque  viros  for- 
tes  et^  magnanimos  eosdem  bonos  et  simpHces, 
veritatis  amicos  minimeque  faUaces  esse  volumus; 
quae  sunt  ex  media  laude  iustitiae. 

^  Leuctris,  hinc  noster  Cocles  Baldwin,  Edd. ;  leutris  ster- 
cocles  A  B  H  a  b ;  leutrister  chodes  c ;  leutris  stercodes  L. 
"^enim  A  C,  Edd.;  not  in  A  B  H  L  b,  Bt^. 
»  et  a,  Edd. ;  not  in  A  B  H  L  b  c  p. 

64 


B     g/-    I.  xviii-xix 

ment,  we  somehc  ^jg^-  other  praise  in  more  eloquent 
strain  the  brave  .j^ '  .oble  work  of  some  great  soul. 
Hence  there  is  ;  f/  en  field  for  orators  on  the  sub- 
jects  of  Marathf  w  Salamis,  Plataea,  Thermopylae, 
and  Leuctra,  anr  icnce  our  own  Cocles,  the  Decii, 
Gnaeus  and  Pu  ms  Scipio,  Marcus  Marcellus,  and 
countless  others,  fud,  above  all,  the  Roman  People 
as  a  nation  are  ^elebrated  for  greatness  of  spirit. 
Their  passion  for  miUtary  glory,  moreover,  is  shown 
in  the  fact  that  we  see  their  statues  usually  in 
soldier's  garb. 

XIX.  But  if  the  exaltation  of  spirit  seen  in  times  Fortitude  in  the 
of  danger  and  toil  is  devoid  of  justice  and  fights  for 
selfish  ends  instead  of  for  the  common  good,  it  is  a 
vice ;  for  not  only  has  it  no  element  of  virtue,  but 
its  nature  is  barbarous  and  revolting  to  all  our  finer 
feeUngs.  The  Stoics,  therefore,  correctly  define 
courage  as  "that  virtue  which  champions  the  cause 
of  right."  Accordingly,  no  one  has  attained  to  true 
glory  who  has  gained  a  reputation  for  courage  by 
treachery  and  cunning ;  for  nothing  that  lacks  justice 
can  be  morally  right. 

This,  then,  is  a  fine  saying  of  Plato's :  Not  only 
must  all  knowledge  that  is  divorced  from  justice  be 
called  cunning  rather  than  wisdom,"  he  says,  but 
even  the  courage  that  is  prompt  to  face  danger,  if  it 
is  inspired  not  by  public  spirit,  but  by  its  own  selfish 
purposes,  should  have  the  name  of  effrontery  rather 
than  of  courage."  And  so  we  demand  that  men 
who  are  courageous  and  high-souled  shall  at  the 
same  time  be  good  and  straightforward,  lovers  of 
truth,  and  foes  to  deception ;  for  these  qualities  are 
the  centre  and  soul  of  justice. 

F  65 


CICERO  DE  OiTlC^IIS 

64  Sed  illud  odiosum  est,  quiAscin  hac  elatione  et 
magnitudine  animi  facillime  jet^inacia  et  nimia 
cupiditas    principatus    innascituiTl'    Ut    enim    apud 

Laches  Platonem  est,  omnem  morem  Lao^jdaemoniorum  in- 

182  E 

flammatum  esse  cupiditate  vincendi,  sic,  ut  quisque 
animi  magnitudine  maxime  excellet/  ita  maxime 
vult  princeps  omnium  vel  potius  solus  esse.  Difficile 
autem  est,  cum  praestare  omnibus  concupieris,  ser- 
vare  aequitatem,  quae  est  iustitiae  maxime  propria. 
Ex  quo  fit,  ut  neque  disceptatione  vinci  se  nec  ullo 
publico  ac  legitimo  iure  patiantur,  existuntque  in  re 
publica  plerumque  largitores  et  factiosi,  ut  opes  quam 
maximas  consequantur  et  sint  vi^  potius  superiores 
quam  iustitia  pares.  Sed  quo  difficilius,  hoc  prae- 
clarius ;  nullum  enim  est  tempus,  quod  iustitia  vacare 
debeat. 

65  Fortes  igitur  et  magnanimi  sunt  habendi,  non  qui 
faciunt,  sed  qui  propulsant  iniuriam.  Vera  autem 
et  sapiens  animi  magnitudo  honestum  illud,  quod 
maxime  natura  sequitur,  in  factis  positum,  non  in 
gloria  iudicat  principemque  se  esse  mavult  quam 
videri ;  etenim  qui  ex  errore  imperitae  multitudinis 
pendet,  hic  in  magnis  viris  non  est  habendus.  Facil- 
lime  autem  ad  res  iniustas  impellitur,  ut  quisque 
altissimo  animo  est,  gloriae  cupiditate^;  qui  locus 
est  sane  lubricus,  quod  vix  invenitur,  qui  laboribus 
susceptis  periculisque  aditis  non  quasi  mercedem 
rerum  gestarum  desideret  gloriam. 

'  excellet  A  B  H  L  b  c ;  excellit  a,  Bt. 

*  vi  a,  Edd. ;  w/*  A  B  H  b ;  utcumque  L  c. 

'  altissimo  ajiimo  est,  gloriae  cupiditnte  Pearce  (confirmed 
by  several  MSS. ),  Edd. ;  alt.  an.  et gloriae  cupiditate  A  B  H 
b  p  ;  est  alt.  an.  et  gloria  et  cupiditate  L  c. 
66 


BOOK  I.  xix 

But  the  mischief  is  that  from  this  exaltation  and 
greatness  of  spirit  spring  all  too  readily  self-will  and 
excessive  lust  for  power.  For  just  as  Plato  tells  us  that 
the  whole  national  character  of  the  Spartans  was  on 
fire  with  passion  for  victory^  so,  in  the  same  way,  the 
more  notable  a  man  is  for  his  greatness  of  spirit,  the 
more  ambitious  he  is  to  be  the  foremost  citizen,  or,  I 
should  say  rather,  to  be  sole  ruler.  But  when  one 
begins  to  aspire  to  pre-eminence,  it  is  difficult  to 
preserve  that  spirit  of  fairness  which  is  absolutely 
essential  to  justice.  The  result  is  that  such  men  do 
not  allow  themselves  to  be  constrained  either  by 
argument  or  by  any  public  and  lawful  authority ;  but 
they  only  too  often  prove  to  be  bribers  and  agitators 
in  pubhc  Hfe,  seeking  to  obtain  supreme  power  and 
to  be  superiors  through  force  rather  than  equals 
through  justice.  But  the  greater  the  difficulty,  the 
greater  the  glory;  for  no  occasion  arises  that  can 
excuse  a  man  for  being  guilty  of  injustice. 

So  then,  not  those  who  do  injury  but  those  who  xrue  greatness 
prevent  it  are  to  be  considered  brave  and  courageous.  °^sp"'*' 
Moreover,  true  and  philosophic  greatness  of  spirit 
regards  the  moral  goodness  to  which  nature  most 
aspires  as  consisting  in  deeds,  not  in  fame,  and  pre- 
fers  to  be  first  in  reahty  rather  than  in  name.  And 
we  must  approve  this  view ;  for  he  who  depends  upon 
the  caprice  of  the  ignorant  rabble  cannot  be  num- 
bered  among  the  great.  Then,  too,  the  higher  a 
man's  ambition,  the  more  easily  he  is  tempted  to 
acts  of  injustice  by  his  desire  for  fame.  We  are  now, 
to  be  sure,  on  very  shppery  ground ;  for  scarcely  can 
the  man  be  found  who  has  passed  through  trials  and 
encountered  dangers  and  does  not  then  wish  for 
glory  as  a  reward  for  his  achievements. 

v2  67 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

66  XX.  Omnino  fortis  animus  et  magnus  duabus 
rebus  maxime  cernitur,  quarum  una  in  rerum  exter- 
narum  despicientia  ponitur,  cum  persuasum  est 
nihil  hominem,  nisi  quod  honestum  decorumque  sit, 
aut  admirari  aut  optare  aut  expetere  oportere  nulh- 
que  neque  homini  neque  perturbationi  animi  nec 
fortunae  succumbere.  Altera  est  res,  ut,  cum  ita 
sis  afFectus  animo,  ut  supra  dixi,  res  geras  magnas 
illas  quidem  et  maxime  utiles,  sed  [utj  vehementer 
arduas  plenasque  laborum  et  periculorum  cum  vitae, 
tum  multarum  rerum,  quae  ad  vitam  pertinent. 

67  Harum  rerum  duarum  splendor  omnis,  ampHtudo, 
addo  etiam  utihtatem,  in  posteriore  est,  causa  autem 
et  ratio  efficiens  magnos  viros  in  priore;  in  eo  est 
enim  illud,  quod  excellentes  animos  et  humana  con- 
temnentes  facit.  Id  autem  ipsum  cernitur  in  duobus, 
si  et  solum  id,  quod  honestum  sit,  bonum  iudices  et 
ab  omni  animi  perturbatione  Hber  sis.  Nam  et  ea, 
quae  eximia  plerisque  et  praeclara  videntur,  parva 
ducere  eaque  ratione  stabiH  firmaque  contemnere 
fortis  animi  magnique  ducendum  est,  et  ea,  quae 
videntur  acerba,  quae  multa  et  varia  in  hominum 
vita  fortunaque  versantur,  ita  ferre,  ut  nihil  a  statu 
naturae  discedas,  niliil  a  dignitate  sapientis,  robusti 

68  animi  est  magnaeque  constantiae.  Non  est  autem 
consentaneum,  qui  metu  non  frangatur,  eum  frangi 
cupiditate  nec,  qui  invictum  se  a  labore  praestiterit, 
vinci  a  voluptate.     Quam  ob  rem  et  haec  vitanda^ 

^  persuasum  est  Madvig  (ad  de  Fin.  p.  448  ff. ),  Edd. ;  p.  sit 
MSS. 

■■^  vitanda    Edd.    (cum    duobus   codd.    Guelpherbytanis); 
'idenda  MSS. 
68 


BOOK  I.  XX 

XX.   The  soul  that  is  altogether  courageous  and  Characteristica 
great  is  marked  above  all  by  two  charaeteristics :  " 
one  of  these  is  indifference  to  outward  circumstances ; 
for    such    a    person    cherishes    the   conviction  that 
nothing  but  moral  goodness  and  propriety  deserves  to 
be  either  admired  or  wished  for  or  striven  after,  and 
that  he  ought  not  to  be  subject  to  any  man  or  any 
passion   or  any  accident   of  fortune.     The   second 
characteristic  is  that,  when  the  soul  is  disciplined  in 
the  way  above  mentioned,  one  should  do  deeds  not  only 
great  and  in  the  highest  degree  useful,  but  extremely 
arduous  and  laborious  and  fraught  with  danger  both 
to  hfe  and  to  many  things  that  make  hfe  worth  hving. 
>7        All  the  glory  and  greatness  and,  I  may  add,  all  the  (i)  ^oral 
usefulness  of  these  two  characteristics  of  courage  are 
centred  in  the  latter ;  the  rational  cause  that  makes 
men  great,  in  the  former.     For  it  is  the  former  that  indifference 
contains  the  element  that  makes  souls  pre-eminent  fortunes!'^ 
and  indifferent  to  worldly  fortune.    And  this  quahty 
is  distinguished  by  two  criteria:  (l)  if  one  account 
moral  rectitude  as  the  only  good ;  and  (2)  if  one  be 
free  from  all  passion.     For  we  must  agree  that  it 
takes  a  brave  and  heroic  soul  to  hold  as  shght  what 
most  people  think  grand  and  glorious,  and  to  dis- 
regard  it  from  fixed  and  settled  principles.     And  it 
requires  strength  of  character  and  great  singleness 
of  purpose  to  bear  what  seems  painful,  as  it  comes 
to  pass  in  many  and  various  forms  in  human  hfe,  and 
to  bear  it  so  unflinchingly  as  not  to  be  shaken  in  the 
least  from  one's  natural  state  of  the  dignity  of  a 
68  philosopher.      Moreover,   it   would   be   inconsistent 
for  the  man  who  is  not  overcome  by  fear  to  be  over- 
come  by  desire,  or  for  the  man  who  has  shown  himself 
invincible  to  toil  to  be  conquered  by  pleasure.     We 

.    69 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

et  pecuniae  fugienda  cupiditas ;  nihil  enim  est  tam 
angusti  animi  tamque  parvi  quam  amare  divitias, 
nihil  honestius  magnificentiusque  quam  pecuniam 
contemnere,  si  non  habeas,  si  habeas,  ad  beneficen- 
tiam  liberalitatemque  conferre. 

Cavenda  etiam  est  gloriae  cupiditas,  ut  supra 
dixi;  eripit  enim  libertatem,  pro  qua  magnanimis 
viris  omnis  debet  esse  contentio.  Nec  vero  imperia 
expetenda  ac  potius  aut  non  accipienda  interdum 
aut  deponenda  non  numquam. 

69  Vacandum  autem  omni  est  animi  perturbatione, 
cum  cupiditate  et  metu^  tum  etiam  aegritudine  et 
voluptate  nimia^  et  iracundia,  ut  tranquillitas  animi 
et  securitas  adsit,  quae  affert  cum  constantiam,  tum 
etiam  dignitatem.  Multi  autem  et  sunt  et  fuerunt, 
qui  eam,  quam  dico,  tranquillitatem  expetentes  a 
negotiis  publicis  se  removerint  ad  otiumque  perfu- 
gerint;  in  his  et  nobihssimi  philosophi  longeque 
principes  et  quidam  homines  severi  et  graves  nec 
populi  nec  principum  mores  ferre  potuerunt,  vixe- 
runtque  non  nulli  in  agris  delectati  re  sua  famihari. 

70  His  idem  propositum  fuit,  quod  regibus,  ut  ne  qua 
re  egerent,  ne  cui  parerent,  libertate  uterentur,  cuius 
proprium  est  sic  vivere,  ut  vehs. 

XXI.  Quare  cum  hoc  commune  sit  potentiae 
cupidorum    cum    iis,    quos    dixi,   otiosis,   alteri    se 

^  voluptate  nimia  Orelli,  Miiller  ;  vohiptate  animi  k  H  L 
a  b  c  ;  vol.  animi  et  secnritas  {et  iraciindia  ut  tr.  animi  by  a 
laterband  on  the  margiii)  B  ;  voluptate  [a?iitni],  Bt.,  Heine. 

»  As  Cicero  did  at  the  expiration  of  his  consulship. 
^  As  Sulla  did  in  his  dictatorship.    The  cont  rast  to  Caesar 
is  the  more  striking  for  Cicero's  not  mentioning  it. 

oe.g.  Plato,  Aristotle,  Zeno,  Pythagoras,  Anaxagoras, 
^  Snch  as  Cicero's  friend,  Atticus,  and  Marcus  Piso. 

70      . 


BOOK  I.  xx-xxi 

must,  therefore,  not  only  avoid  the  latter,  but  also 
beware  of  ambition  for  wealth  ;  for  there  is  nothing  so 
characteristic  of  narrowness  and  littleness  of  soul  as 
the  love  of  riches;  and  there  is  nothing  more 
honourable  and  noble  than  to  be  indifferent  to 
money .  if  one  does  not  possess  it,  and  to  devote  it  to 
beneficence  and  Uberahty,  if  one  does  possess  it. 

As  I  said  before,  we  must  also  beware  of  ambition 
for  glory ;  for  it  robs  us  of  Hberty,  and  in  defence  of 
hberty  a  high-souled  man  should  stake  everything. 
And  one  ought  not  to  seek  miHtary  authority ;  nay, 
rather  it  ought  sometimes  to  be  declined,^  sometimes 
to  be  resigned.^ 

)  Again,  we  must  keep  ourselves  free  from  every  (3)  Freedom 
disturbing  emotion,  not  only  from  desire  and  fear,  but 
also  from  excessive  pain  and  pleasure,  and  from  angei*^ 
so  that  we  may  enjoy  that  calm  of  soul  and  freedom 
from  care  which  bring  both  moral  stabiHty  and  dig- 
nity  of  character.  But  there  have  been  many  and  stiH  The  retired  life 
are  many  who^  while  pursuing  that  calm  of  soul  of 
vvhich  I  speak,  have  withdrawn  from  civic  duty  and 
taken  refuge  in  retirement.  Among  such  have  been 
found  the  most  f  amous  and  by  far  the  foremost  philo- 
sophers*^  and  certain  other'^  earnest,  thoughtful  men 
who  could  not  endure  the  conduct  of  either  the 
people  or  their  leaders;  some  of  them,  too^  Hved  in 
the  country  and  found  their  pleasure  in  the  manage- 

[)  ment  of  their  private  estates.  Such  men  have  had 
the  same  aims  as  kings — to  suffer  no  want,  to  be 
subject  to  no  authority,  to  enjoy  their  Hberty,  that 
is,  in  its  essence,  to  Hve  just  as  they  please. 

XXI.  So,  while  this  desire  is  common  to  men  of 
poHtical  ambitions  and  men  of  retirement,  of  whom 
I  have  just  spoken,  the  one  class  think  they  cau 

71 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

adipisci  id  posse  arbitrantur,  si  opes  magnas  habeant, 
alteri,  si  contenti  sint  et  suo  et  parvo.  In  quo 
neutrorum  omnino  contemnenda  sententia  est,  sed 
et  facilior  et  tutior  et  minus  aliis  gravis  aut  molesta 
vita  est  otiosorum^  fructuosior  autem  hominum  generi 
et  ad  claritatem  amplitudinemque  aptior  eorum,  qui 
se  ad  rem  publicam  et  ad  magnas  res  gerendas  ac- 
commodaverunt. 

71  Quapropter  et  iis  forsitan  concedendum  sit  rem 
pubhcam  non  capessentibus,  qui  excellenti  ingenio 
doctrinae  sese  dediderunt,  et  iis,  qui  aut  valetudinis 
imbecillitate  aut  aHqua  graviore  causa  impediti  a  r( 
publica  recesserunt,  cum  eius  administrandae  potC' 
statem  aliis  laudemque  concederent.  Quibus  autem 
talis  nulla  sit  causa,  si  despicere  se  dicant  ea,  quae 
plerique  mirentur,  imperia  et  magistratus,  iis  non 
modo  non  laudi,  verum  etiam  vitio  dandum  puto; 
quorum  iudicium  in  eo,  quod  gloriam  contemnant  et 
pro  nihilo  putent,  difficile  factu  est  non  probare ;  sed 
videntur  labores  et  molestias,  tum  offensionum  et 
repulsarum  quasi  quandam  ignominiam  timere  et 
infamiam.  Sunt  enim,  qui  in  rebus  contrariis  parum 
sibi  constent,  voluptatem  severissime  contemnant,  in 
dolore  sint  molliores,  gloriam  neglegant,  frangantur 
infamia,  atque  ea  quidem  non  satis  constanter. 

72  Sed  iis,   qui  habent  a  natura  adiumenta  rerum 

gerendarum,  abiecta  omni   cunctatione  adipiscendi 
72 


BOOK  I.  xxi 

attain  their  end  if  they  secure  large  means;  the  Theiifeof 
other,  if  they  are  content  with  the  httle  they  have.  ^^  icsemce 
And  in  this  matter^  neither  way  of  thinking  is  alto-  reUremen^t 
gether  to  be  condemned ;  but  the  life  of  retirement  is 
easier  and  safer  and  at  the  same  time  less  burden- 
some  or   troublesome   to   others,   while   the    career 
of  those  who  apply  themselves  to  statecraft  and  to 
conducting  great  enterprises  is  more   profitable  to 
mankind  and  contributes  more  to  their  own  great- 
ness  and  renown. 

So  perhaps  those  men  of  extraordinary  genius 
who  have  devoted  themselves  to  learning  must  be 
excused  for  not  taking  part  in  pubhc  affairs;  hke- 
wise,  those  who  from  ill-health  or  for  some  still 
more  vahd  reason  have  retired  from  the  service  of 
the  state  and  left  to  others  the  opportunity  and  the 
glory  of  its  administration.  But  if  those  who  have 
no  such  excuse  profess  a  scorn  for  civil  and  mihtary 
offices,  which  most  people  admire,  I  think  that  this 
should  be  set  down  not  to  their  credit  but  to  their 
discredit;  for  in  so  far  as  they  care  Httle,  as  they 
say,  for  glory  and  count  it  as  naught,  it  is  difficult 
not  to  sympathize  with  their  attitude;  in  reahty, 
however,  they  seem  to  dread  the  toil  and  trouble 
and  also,  perhaps,  the  discredit  and  humihation  of 
political  failure  and  defeat.  For  there  are  people 
who  in  opposite  circumstances  do  not  act  consist- 
ently:  they  have  the  utmost  contempt  for  pleasure, 
but  in  pain  they  are  too  sensitive;  they  are  in- 
different  to  glory,  but  they  are  crushed  by  disgrace ; 
and  even  in  their  inconsistency  they  show  no  great 
consistency, 

But  those  whom  Nature  has  endowed  with  the  Pubiicservic 
eapacity  for  administering  pubhc  affairs  should  put  *  '^"'^* 

73 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

magistratus  et  gerenda  res  publica  est;  nec  enim 
aliter  aut  regi  civitas  aut  declarari  animi  magnitudo 
potest.  Capessentibus  autem  rem  publicam  nihilo  ^ 
minus  quam  philosophis,  haud  scio  an  magis  etiam 
et  magnificentia  et  despicientia  adhibenda  est  ^  re- 
rum  humanarum,  quam  saepe  dico^  et  tranquilhtas 
animi   atque    secui'itas,    siquidem    nec    anxii    futuri 

73  sunt  et  cum  gravitate  constantiaque  victuri.  Quae 
faciUora  sunt  philosophis,  quo  minus  multa  patent 
in  eorum  vita^  quae  fortuna  feriat,  et  quo  minus 
multis  rebus  egent,  et  quia,  si  quid  adversi  eveniat, 
tam  graviter  cadere  non  possunt.  Quocirca  non 
sine  causa  maiores  motus  animorum  concitantur 
maioraque  studia  efficiendi^  rem  pubhcam  geren- 
tibus  quam  quietis,  quo  magis  iis  et  magnitudo  est 
animi  adhibenda  et  vacuitas  ab  angoribus. 

Ad  rem  gerendam  autem  qui  accedit,  caveat,  ne 
id  modo  consideret,  quam  illa  res  honesta  sit,  sed 
etiam  ut  habeat  efficiendi  facultatem;  in  quo  ipso 
considerandum  est,  ne  aut  temere  desperet  propter 
ignaviam  aut  nimis  confidat  propter  cupiditatem. 
In  omnibus  autem  negotiis,  prius  quam  aggrediare, 
adhibenda  est  praeparatio  dihgens. 

74  XXII.  Sed  cum  plerique  arbitrentur  res  belhcas 
maiores  esse  quam  urbanas,  minuenda  est  haec 
opinio.  Multi  enim  bella  saepe  quaesiverunt  propter 
gloriae  cupiditatem,  atque  id  in  magnis  animis  in- 
geniisque  plerumque  contingit,  eoque  magis,  si 
sunt   ad   rem   mihtarem   apti    et    cupidi    bellorum 

^nihilo  Wesenberg',  Edd. ;  nihil  MSS. 

'^  est  Maniitius,  Edd.;  sit  MSS. 

'^  maioraque  studia  efficiendi  Ung^er,  Miiller ;  maioraque 
efficiendi  A^  B  H  L  b  c  ;  maiorque  cura  efficiendi  a,  Bt., 
Heine  ;  maioraque  efficienda  A'-'  p. 

74 


BOOK  I.  xxi-xxii 

aside  all  hesitation,  enter  the  race  for  pubhc  office, 
and  take  a  hand  in  directing  the  government;  for 
in  no  other  way  can  a  government  be  administered 
or  greatness  of  spirit  be  made  manifest.  Statesmen, 
too,  no  less  than  philosophers — perhaps  even  more 
so — should  carry  with  them  that  greatness  of  spirit 
and  indifference  to  outwai'd  circumstances  to  which 
I  so  often  refer,  together  with  calm  of  soul  and  free- 
dom  from  care,  if  they  are  to  be  free  from  worries 

73  and  lead  a  dignified  and  self-consistent  life.  This  is 
easier  for  the  philosophers ;  as  their  hfe  is  less  exposed 
to  the  assaults  of  fortune,  their  wants  are  fewer ;  and 
if  any  misfortune  overtakes  them,  their  fall  is  not  so 
disastrous.  Not without  reason,  therefore,  are  stronger 
emotions  aroused  in  those  who  engage  in  pubhc  hfe 
tlian  in  those  who  Uve  in  retirement,  and  greater  is 
their  ambition  for  success;  the  more,  therefore,  do 
they  need  to  enjoy  greatness  of  spirit  and  freedom 
from  annoying  cares. 

If  anyone  is  entering  pubHc  life,  let  him  beware 
of  thinking  only  of  the  honour  that  it  brings ;  but 
let  him  be  sure  also  that  he  has  the  abihty  to 
succeed.  At  the  same  time,  let  him  take  care  not 
to  lose  heart  too  readily  through  discouragement  nor 
yet  to  be  over-confident  through  ambition.  In  a  word, 
before  undertaking  any  enterprise,  careful  prepara- 
tion  must  be  made. 

Ji       XXII.   Most  people  think  that  the  achievements  Victories of  war 
of  war  are  more  important  than  tliose  of  peace ;  but  victoriesof 
this  opinion  needs  to  be  corrected.     For  many  men  peace. 
have  sought  occasions  for  war  from  the  mere  ambi- 
tion  for  fame.     This  is  notably  the  case  with  men 
of  great  spirit  and  natural  abihty,  and  it  is  the  more 
Ukely  to  happen,  if  they  are  adapted  to  a  soldier's 

75 


CrCERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

gerendorum ;  vere  autem  si  volumus  iudicare,  multae 
res  exstiterunt  urbanae  maiores  clarioresque  quam 
bellicae. 

75  Quamvis  enim  Themistocles  iure  laudetur  et  sit 
eius  nomen  quam  Solonis  illustrius  citeturque  Sala- 
mis  clarissimae  testis  victoriae,  quae  anteponatur 
consilio  Solonis  ei^quo  primum  constituit  Areopagitas, 
non  minus  praeclarum  hoc  quam  illud  iudicandum 
est;  illud  enim  semel  profuit,  hoc  semper  proderit 
civitati;  hoc  consilio  leges  Atheniensium,  hoc  maio- 
rum  instituta  servantur;  et  Themistocles  quidem 
nihil  dixerit,  in  quo  ipse  Areopagum  adiuverit,  at 
ille  vere  a^  se  adiutum  Themistoclem ;  est  enim 
bellum  gestum  consilio  senatus  eius,  qui  a  Solone 
erat  constitutus. 

76  Licet  eadem  de  Pausania  Lysandroque  dicere, 
quorum  rebus  gestis  quamquam  imperium  Lacedae- 
moniis  partum  ^  putatur,  tamen  ne  minima  quidem  ex 
parte  Lycurgi  legibus  et  disciplinae  conferendi  sunt; 
quin  etiam  ob  has  ipsas  causas  et  parentiores  habue- 
runt  exercitus  et  fortiores.  Mihi  quidem  neque 
pueris  nobis  M.  Scaurus  C.  Mario  neque,  cum  ver- 
saremur  in  re  publica,  Q.  Catulus  Cn.  Pompeio 
cedere  videbatur;  parvi  enim  sunt  foris  arma,  nisi 
est  consiUum  domi;    nec  plus  Africanus,  singularis 

'  a  Edd. ;  not  in  MSS. ;  se  adiutum  A  B  H  b,  Edd. ;  adinvit 
L'  c  p  ;  se  adiutum  ab  illo  dixerit  (?)  Thcmistoclcs  \?. 

^ L.  partum  Lambinus,  Miiller  ;  partum  L.,  Bt.;  om.  par- 
tum  A'  B  II  L'  a  b ;  L.  dilatatum  A'^;  dilatatum  L.  L'-'  c. 

76 


BOOK  I.  xxii 

life  and  fond  of  warfare.  But  if  we  will  face  the 
facts,  we  shall  find  that  there  have  been  many 
instances  of  achievement  in  peace  more  important 
and  no  less  renowned  than  in  war. 

However  highly  Themistocles,  for  example,  may  Themistocles 
be  extolled — and  deservedly — and  however  much  solon.  "* 
more  illustrious  his  name  may  be  than  Solon's,  and 
however  much  Salamis  may  be  cited  as  witness  of 
his  most  glorious  victory — a  victory  glorified  above 
Solon's  statesmanship  in  instituting  the  Areopagus 
— yet  Solon's  achievement  is  not  to  be  accounted  less 
illustrious  than  his.  For  Themistocles's  victory  served 
the  state  once  and  only  once ;  while  Solon's  work 
will  be  of  service  for  ever.  For  through  his  legisla- 
tion  the  laws  of  the  Athenians  and  the  institutions 
of  their  fathers  are  maintained.  And  while  The- 
mistocles  could  not  readily  point  to  any  instance  in 
which  he  himself  had  rendered  assistance  to  the 
Areopagus,  the  Areopagus  might  with  justice  assert 
that  Themistocles  had  received  assistance  from  it; 
for  the  war  was  directed  by  the  counsels  of  that 
senate  which  Solon  had  created. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  Pausanias  and  Lysander.  Pausanias  and 
Although  it  is  thought  that  it  was  by  their  achieve-    ^^^"  yl 
ments  that  Sparta  gained  her  supremacy,  yet  these  Lycurgus. 
are  not  even  remotely  to  be  compared  with  the 
legislation  and  discipline  of  Lycurgus.     Nay,  rather, 
it  was  due  to  these  that  Pausanias  and  Lysander  had 
armies  so  brave  and  so  well  disciplined.    For  my  own 
partj  I  do  not  consider  that  Marcus  Scaurus  was  inferior 
to  Gaius  Marius,  when  I  was  a  lad,  or  Quintus  Catulus 
to  Gnaeus  Pompey,  when  I  was  engaged  in  public 
life.     For  arms  are  of  little  value  in  the  field  unless 
there  is  wise  counsel  at  home.     So,  too,  Africanus, 

77 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
et  vir  et  imperator,  in  exscindenda  Numantia  rei 
publicae  profuit  quam  eodem  tempore  P.  Nasica 
privatus,  cura  Ti.  Gracchum  interemit;  quamquam 
haec  quidem  res  non  solum  ex  domestica  est  ratione 
(attingit  etiam  bellicam,  quoniam  vi  manuque  confecta 
est),  sed  tamen  id  ipsum  est  gestum  consilio  urbano 
sine  exercitu. 

77  Illud  autem  optimum  est,  in  quod  invadi  solere  ab 
improbis  et  invidis  audio : 

Cedant  arma  togae,  concedat  laurea  laudi." 

Ut  enim  alios  omittam,  nobis  rem  pubUcam  guber- 
nantibus  nonne  togae  arma  cesserunt?  neque  enim 
periculum  in  re  publica  fuit  gravius  umquam  nec 
maius  otium.  Ita  consiliis  diligentiaque  nostra  cele- 
riter  de  manibus  audacissimorum  civium  delapsa 
arma  ipsa  ceciderunt.    Quae  res  igitur  gesta  umquam 

78  in  bello  tanta?  qui  triumphus  conferendus?  licet 
enim  mihi,  M.  fili,  apud  te  gloriari^  ad  quem  et  here- 
ditas  huius  gloriae  et  factorum  imitatio  pertinet. 
Mihi  quidem  certe  vir  abundans  bellicis  laudibus, 
Cn.  Pompeius^  multis  audientibus  hoc  tribuit,  ut 
diceret  frustra  se  triumphum  tertium  deportaturum 
fuisse,  nisi  meo  in  rem  publicam  beneficio,  ubi  tri- 
umpharet,  esset  habiturus. 

Sunt  igitur  domesticae  fortitudines  non  inferiores 

»The  praises  of  Cicero  for  his  overthrow  of  the  conspiracy 
of  Catiline. 
^The  laurels  of  Ihe  triumphant  general. 

78 


BOOK  I.  xxii 

though  a  great  man  and  a  soldier  of  extraordinary 
abilitjj  did  no  greater  service  to  the  state  by  destroy- 
ing  Numantia  than  was  done  at  the  same  time  by 
Publius  Nasica,  though  not  then  clothed  with  official 
authority,  by  removing  Tiberius  Gracchus.  This 
deed  does  not,  to  be  sure,  belong  wholly  to  the  do- 
main  of  civil  afFairs ;  it  partakes  of  the  nature  of  war 
alsOj  since  it  was  efFected  by  violence ;  but  it  waSj  for 
all  that,  executed  as  a  poKtical  measure  without  the 
help  of  an  army. 

77  The  whole  truth,  however,  is  in  this  verse,  against  cicero's  great 
which,  I  am  told,  the  maHcious  and  envious  are  wont  ^*°  °^^' 

to  rail : 
Yield,  ye  arms,  to  the  toga ;  to  civic  praises,^  ye 
laurels."*' 
Not  to  mention  other  instances,  did  not  arms  yield 
to  the  toga,  when  I  was  at  the  helm  of  state  ?  For 
never  was  the  repubUc  in  more  serious  peril,  never 
was  peace  more  profound.  Thus,  as  the  result  of  my 
counsels  and  my  vigilance,  their  weapons  slipped 
suddenly  from  the  hands  of  the  most  desperate 
traitors — dropped  to  the  ground  of  their  own  accord ! 
What  achievement  in  war,  then,  was  ever  so  great  ? 

78  What  triumph  can  be  compared  with  that?  For  I 
may  boast  to  you,  my  son  Marcus ;  for  to  you  belong 
the  inheritance  of  that  glory  of  mine  and  the  duty 
of  imitating  my  deeds.  And  it  was  to  me,  too,  that 
Gnaeus  Pompey,  a  hero  crowned  with  the  honours 
of  war,  paid  this  tribute  in  the  hearing  of  many, 
when  he  said  that  his  third  triumph  would  have  been 
gained  in  vain,  if  he  were  not  to  have  through  my 
services  to  the  state  a  place  in  which  to  celebrate 
it. 

There  are,  therefore,  instances  of  civic  courage 

79 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

militaribus ;  in  quibus  plus  etiam  quam  in  his  operae 
studiique  ponendum  est. 

79  XXIII,  Omnino  illud  honestum,  quod  ex  animo 
excelso  magnificoque  quaerimus,  animi  efficitur,  non 
corporis  viribus.  Exercendum  tamen  corpus  et  ita 
afficiendum  est,  ut  oboedire  consiho  rationique  possit 
in  exsequendis  negotiis  et  in  labore  tolerando. 
Honestum  autem  id,  quod  exquirimus,  totum  est 
positum  in  animi  cura  et  cogitatione;  in  quo  non 
minorem  utihtatem  afferunt,  qui  togati  rei  pubhcae 
praesunt,  quam  qui  beUum  gerunt.  Itaque  eorum 
consiho  saepe  aut  non  suscepta  aut  confecta  beha 
sunt,  non  numquam  etiam  illata,  ut  M.  Catonis 
bellum  tertium  Punicum,  in  quo  etiam  mortui  valuit 

80  auctoritas.  Quare  expetenda  quidem  magis  est 
decernendi  ratio  quam  decertandi  fortitudo,  sed 
cavendum,  ne  id  bellandi  magis  fuga  quam  utihtatis 
ratione  faciamus.  Bellum  autem  ita  suscipiatur,  ut 
nihil  aliud  nisi  pax  quaesita  videatur. 

Fortis  vero  animi  et  constantis  est  non  perturbari 
in  rebus  asperis  nec  tumultuantem  de  gradu  deici, 
ut  dicitur,  sed  praesenti  animo  uti  et  consiho  nec  a 
ratione  discedere. 

81  Quamquam  hoc  animi,  illud  etiam  ingenii  magni 
est,  praecipere  cogitatione  futura  et  aliquanto    ante 

^aliquanto  Edd.;  aliguando  MSS. 
SO 


BOOK  I.  xxii-xxiii 

that  are  not  inferior  to  the  cnurage  of  the  soldier. 
Nay,  the  former  calls  for  even  greater  energy  and 
greater  devotion  than  the  latter. 

XXIII.  That  moral  goodness  which  we  look  for  in  (2)  Physicai 
a  lofty,  high-minded  spirit  is  secured,  of  course,  by  '^°^'^^s^- 
moral,  not  by  physical,  strength.  And  yet  the  body 
must  be  trained  and  so  disciplined  that  it  can  obey 
the  dictates  of  judgment  and  reason  in  attending 
to  business  and  in  enduring  toil.  But  that  moral 
goodness  which  is  our  theme  depends  whoUy  upon 
the  thought  and  attention  given  to  it  by  the  mind. 
And  in  this  way,  the  men  who  in  a  civil  capacity 
direct  the  affairs  of  the  nation  render  no  less  impor- 
tant  service  than  they  who  conduct  its  wars :  by  their 
statesmanship  oftentimes  wars  are  either  averted  or 
terminated ;  sometimes  also  they  are  declared.  Upon 
Marcus  Cato's  counsel,  for  example,  the  Third  Punic 
War  was  undertaken,  and  inits  conduct  hisinfluence 
was  dominant,  even  after  he  was  dead.  And  so 
diplomacy  in  the  friendly  settlement  of  controversies 
is  more  desirable  than  courage  in  setthng  them  on 
the  battlefield ;  but  we  must  be  careful  not  to  take 
tliat  course  merely  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  war 
rather  than  for  the  sake  of  public  expediency.  War, 
however,  should  be  undertaken  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  it  evident  that  it  has  no  other  object  than  to 
secure  peace. 

But  it  takes  a  brave  and  resolute  spirit  not  to  be 
disconcerted  in  times  of  difficulty  or  ruffled  and 
thrown  ofF  one's  feet,  as  the  saying  is,  but  to  keep 
one's  presence  of  mind  and  one's  self-possession  and 
not  to  swerve  from  the  path  of  reason. 

Now  all  this  requires  great  personal  courage ;  but  courage  and 
it  calls  also  for  great  intellectual  abihty  by  reflection  discretion. 
G  81 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

constituere,  quid  accidere  possit  in  utramque  partem, 
et  quid  agendum  sit,  cum  quid  evenerit,  nec  com- 
mittere,  ut  aliquando  dicendum  sit :  Non  putaram." 
Haec  sunt  opera  magni  animi  et  excelsi  et  pru- 
dentia  consilioque  fidentis;  temere  autem  in  acie 
versari  et  manu  cum  lioste  confligere  immane  quid- 
dam  et  beluarum  simile  est ;  sed  cum  tempus  necessi- 
tasque  postulat,  decertandum  manu  est  et  mors 
servituti  turpitudinique  anteponenda. 

82  XXIV.  De  evertendis  autem  diripiendisque  urbibus 
valde  considerandum  est  ne  quid  temere,  ne  quid  cru- 
deliter.  Idque  est  magni  viri,  rebus  agitatis  punire 
sontes,  multitudinem  conservare,  in  omni  fortuna 
recta  atque  honesta  retinere.  Ut  enim  sunt,  quem 
ad  modum  supra  dixi,  qui  urbanis  rebus  bellicas 
anteponant,  sic  reperias  multos,  quibus  periculosa  et 
calida  consilia  quietis  et  cogitatis^  splendidiora  et 
maiora  videantur. 

83  Nunquam  omnino  periculi  fuga  committendum  est, 
ut  imbelles  timidique  videamur,  sed  fugiendum  illud 
etiam,  ne  offeramus  nos  periculis  sine  causa,  quo  esse 
nihil  potest  stultius.  Quapropter  in  adeundis  peri- 
cuHs  consuetudo  imitanda  medicorum  est,  qui  leviter 
aegrotantes  leniter  curant,  gravioribus  autem  morbis 
periculosas  curationes  et  ancipites  adhibere  cogun- 
tur.      Quare    in  tranquillo   tempeslatem   adversam 

^calida  Nonius,  Edd.;  callida  MSS. 

*  consilia  quietis  et  cogiiatis  Edd. ;  consilia  et  quietis  et 
cogitationis  A.  B  H  a  b;  consilia  et  quietis  cogitationibus  Q  p. 
82 


BOOK  I.  xxiii-xxiv 

to  anticipate  the  future,  to  discover  some  time  in 
advance  what  may  happen  whether  for  good  or  for 
ill,  and  what  must  be  done  in  any  possible  event,  and 
never  to  be  reduced  to  having  to  say  "l  had  not 
thought  of  that." 

These  are  the  activities  that  mark  a  spirit,  strong, 
high,  and  self-rehant  in  its  prudence  and  wisdom. 
But  to  mix  rashly  in  the  fray  and  to  fight  hand  to 
hand  with  the  enemy  is  but  a  barbarous  and  brutish 
kind  of  business.  Yet  when  the  stress  of  circum- 
stances  demands  it,  we  must  gird  on  the  sword  and 
prefer  death  to  slavery  and  disgrace. 

XXIV.  As  to  destroying  and  plundering  cities,  let 
rae  saj-  that  great  care  should  be  taken  that  nothing 
be  done  in  reckless  cruelty  or  wantonness.  And  it  is 
a  great  man's  duty  in  troublous  times  to  single  out 
the  guilty  for  punishment,  to  spare  the  many,  and  in 
every  turn  of  fortune  to  hold  to  a  true  and  honour- 
able  course.  For  whereas  there  are  many,  as  I  have 
said  before,  who  place  the  achievements  of  war  above 
those  of  peace,  so  one  may  find  many  to  whom 
adventurous,  hot-headed  counsels  seem  more  brilliant 
and  more  impressive  than  calm  and  well-considered 
measures. 

We  must,  of  course,  never  be  guilty  of  seeming  Courage  in  timc 
cowardly  and  craven  in  our  avoidance  of  danger ;  but  aingeu  ^^"^ 
we  must  also  beware  of  exposing  ourselves  to  danger 
needlessly.  Nothing  can  be  more  foolhardy  than 
that.  Accordingly,  in  encountering  danger  we 
should  do  as  doctors  do  in  their  practice :  in  light 
cases  of  illness  they  give  mild  treatment ;  in  cases  of 
dangerous  sickness  they  are  compelled  to  apply 
hazardous  and  even  desperate  remedies.  It  is,  there- 
fore,  only  a  madman  who,  in  a  calm,  would  pray 
g2  83 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

optare  dementis  est,  subvenire  autem  tempestati 
quavis  ratione  sapientis,  eoque  magis,  si  plus  adipi- 
scare  re  explicata  boni  quam  addubitata  mali. 

Periculosae  autem  rerum  actiones  partim  iis^  sunt, 
qui  eas  suscipiunt,  partim  rei  publicae.  Itemque 
alii  de  vita,  alii  de  gloria  et  benivolentia  civium  in 
discrimen  vocantur.  Promptiores  igitur  debemus 
esse  ad  nostra  pericula  quam  ad  communia  dimicare- 
que  paratius  de  honore  et  gloria  quam  de  ceteris 
commodis. 
84  Inventi  autem  multi  sunt,  qui  non  modo  pecu- 
niam,  sed  etiam  -vitam  profundere  pro  patria  parati 
essent,  iidem  gloriae  iacturam  ne  minimam  quidem 
facere  vellent,  ne  re  publica  quidem  postulante ;  ut 
Callicratidas,  qui,  cum  Lacedaemoniorum  dux  fuisset 
Peloponnesiaco  bello  multaque  fecisset  egregie,  ver- 
tit  ad  extremum  omnia,  cum  consilio  non  paruit 
eorum,  qui  classem  ab  Arginusis  removendam  nec 
cum  Atheniensibus  dimicandum  putabant;  quibus 
ille  respondit  Lacedaemonios  classe  illa  amissa  aHam 
parare  posse,  se  fugere  sine  suo  dedecore  non  posse. 
Atque  haec  quidem  Lacedaemoniis^  plaga  mediocris, 
illa  pestifera,  qua,  cum  Cleombrotus  invidiam  timens 
temere  cum  Epaminonda  conflixisset  Lacedaemoni- 
orum  opes  corruerunt. 

*  iis  Edd. ;  his  MSS. 

^guidem  Lacedaemoniis  Edd.,  quidem  de  Lacedaemoniis 
MSS. 

''Such  as  the  esteem  and  good-will  of  fellow-citizens ; 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  the  exisf*"'^^^  of 
the  state  and  all  the  advantages  it  brings. 

84 


BOOK  I.  xxiv 

for  a  storm ;  a  wise  man's  way  is,  when  the  storm 
does  come,  to  withstand  it  with  all  the  means  at  his 
commandj  and  especially,  when  the  advantages  to 
be  expected  in  case  of  a  successful  issue  are  greater 
than  the  hazards  of  the  struggle. 

The  dangers  attending  great  afFairs  of  state  fall  Patriotism  and 
sometimes  upon  those  who  undertake  them,  some-  ^^  "^^"'  °*' 
times  upon  the  state.  In  carrying  out  such  enter- 
prises,  some  run  the  risk  of  losing  their  Hves,  others 
their  reputation  and  the  good-will  of  their  fellow- 
citizens.  It  is  our  duty,  then,  to  be  more  ready  to 
endanger  our  own  than  the  pubhc  welfare  and  to 
hazard  honour  and  glory  more  readily  than  other 
advantages.* 

Many,  on  the  other  hand,  have  been  found  who 
were  ready  to  pour  out  not  only  their  money  but 
their  hves  for  their  country  and  yet  would  not 
consent  to  make  even  the  shghtest  sacrifice  of  per- 
sonal  glory — even  though  the  interests  of  their 
country  demanded  it.  For  example,  when  Calhcra- 
tidas,  as  Spartan  admiral  in  the  Peloponnesian  War, 
had  won  many  signal  successes,  he  spoiled  every- 
thing  at  the  end  by  refusing  to  hsten  to  the  proposal 
of  those  who  thought  he  ought  to  withdraw  his  fleet 
from  the  Arginusae  and  not  to  risk  an  engagement 
with  the  Athenians.  His  answer  to  them  was  that 
"  the  Spartans  could  build  another  fleet,  if  they  lost 
that  one,  but  he  could  not  retreat  without  dishonour 
to  himself "  And  yet  what  he  did  dealt  only  a 
shght  blow  to  Sparta;  there  was  another  which 
proved  disastrous,  when  Cleombrotus  in  fear  of  criti- 
cism  recklessly  went  into  battle  against  Epaminon- 
das.  In  consequence  of  that,  the  Spartan  power 
fell. 

85 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
Ann.  xii,  Ouanto  Q.  Maximus  melius!  de  quo  Ennius: 

Vahlen-^,  370-372      ^^  ,  ,.  ,  .      . 

Unus  nomo  nobis  cunetando  restituit  rem. 

Noenum  rumores  ponebat  ^  ante  salutem. 

Ergo  postque  magisque  viri  nunc  gloria  claret. 
Quod  genus  peccandi  vitandum  est  etiam  in  rebus 
urbanis.     Sunt  enim,  qui,  quod  sentiunt,  etsi  opti- 
mum  sitj  tamen  invidiae  metu  non  audeant  ^  dicere. 

85  XXV.    Omnino  qui  rei  publicae  praefuturi  sunt, 
Rep.  i.  342  E    (Juo  Platonis  praecepta  teneant,  unum,  ut  utilitatem 

civium  sic  tueantur,  ut,  quaecumque  agunt,  ad  eam 
Rep.  iv,  420  R  refcrant  obliti  commodorum  suorum,  alterum,  ut 
totum  corpus  rei  publicae  curent,  ne,  dum  partem 
aliquam  tuentur,  reliquas  deserant.  Ut  enim  tutela, 
sic  procuratio  rei  publicae  ad  eorum  utilitatem,  qui 
commissi  sunt,  nbn  ad.eorum,  quibus  commissa  est, 
gerenda  est.  Qui  afttem  parti  civium  consulunt, 
partem  neglegunt,  rem  perniciosissimam  in  civitatem 
inducunt,  seditionem  atque  discordiam;  ex  quo 
evenit,  ut  alii  populares,  alii  studiosi  optimi  cuius- 
que  videantur,  pauci  universorum. 

86  Hinc  apud  Atheniensis  magnae  discordiae,  in 
nostra  re  publica  non  solum  seditiones,  sed  etiam 
pestifera  bella  civilia;  quae  gravis  et  fortis  civis  et 

"^  Noenum  rumores  ponehat  Lachmann  (ad  Lucr.  III, 
198)  ;  Non  enim  rumores  ponebat  MSS. ;  A^on  ponebat  enim 
alii. 

^  audeant  Ernesti ;  audent  MSS.,  Bt.',  Heine. 

*Sacrificing  public  interests  to  personal  glory. 
l»  From  the  death  of  Pericles  on. 
i^Such  as  the  conspiracy  of  Catiline. 
^  The   civil   wars   of    Marius    and    SuUa,    Caesar  and 
Pompey. 
86 


BOOK  1.  xxiv-xxv 

How  much  better  was  the  conduct  of  Quintus 
Maximus!     Of  him  Ennius  says : 

"One  man — and  he  alone — restored  our  state  by 

delaying. 
Not  in  the  least  did  fame  with  him  take  prece- 

dence  of  safety ; 
Therefore  now  does  his  glory  shine  bright,  and  it 

grows  ever  brighter." 

This  sort  of  ofFence'*  niust  be  avoided  no  less  in 
poUtical  Ufe.  For  there  are  men  who  for  fear  of 
giving  offence  do  not  darc  to  express  their  honest 
opinion,  no  matter  how  exceUent.  ^^^ 

XXV.  Those  who  propose  to  take  charge  of  the  P^^K  ,   .. 

^:,      ^  .  administration 

affairs  of  government  sliould  not  lail  to  remember  two  must  be  iree 
of  Plato's  rules :  first,  to  keep  the  good  of  the  people  ^""^ 
so  clearly  in  view  that  regardless  of  their  own  in- 
terests  they  wiU  make  their  every  action  conform  to 
that;  second,  to  care  for  the  welfare  of  the  whole 
body  poUtic  and  not  in  serving  the  interests  of  some  (i)  partisanship 
one  party  to  betray  the  rest.     For  the  administra- 
tion  of  the  government,  Uke  the  office  of  a  trustee, 
must  be  conducted  for  the  benefit  of  those  entrusted 
to  one's  care,  not  of  those  to  whom  it  is  entrusted. 
Now,  those  who  care  for  the  interests  of  a  part  of 
the    citizens   and   neglect   another   part,  introduce 
into  the  civil  service  a  dangerous  element — dissen- 
sion    and   party    strife.     The   result   is    that    some 
are  found  to  be  loyal  supporters  of  the  democratic, 
others  of  the  aristocratic  party,  and  few  of  the  nation 
as  a  whole. 
i       As  a  result  of  this  party  spirit  bitter  strife  arose 
at  Athens,''  and  in  our  own  country  not  only  dis- 
sensions'^  but  also  disastrous  civil  wars^  broke  oct. 

87 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

in  re  publica  dignus  principatu  fugiet  atque  oderit 

tradetque   se   totum   rei    publicae   neque   opes   aut 

potentiam  consectabitur  totamque  eam  sic  tuebitur, 

ut  omnibus  consulat;  nec  vero  criminibus  falsis  in 

odium  aut  invidiam  quemquam  vocabit  omninoque 

ita  iustitiae  honestatique  adliaerescetj   ut,  dum  ea 

conservet,    quamvis   graviter    offendat    mortemque 

oppetat  potius  quam  deserat  illa,  quae  dixi. 

87        Miserrima  omnino  est  ambitio  honorumqtie  con- 

ep.  vi,  48S  B;  tcntio,  de  qua  praeclare  apud  eundem  est  Platonem, 
J9C  ^^ 

similiter  facere  eos,  qui  inter  se  contenderent,  uter 

potius  rem  publicam  administraret,  ut  si  nautae  cer- 

seTc^"'      tarent,  quis  eorum  potissimum  gubernaret."     Idem- 

856B  '         que  praecipit,  ut      eos  adversarios  existimemus,  qui 

arma  contra  ferant,  non  eos,  qui  suo  iudicio  tueri 

rem  publicam  velint,"  qualis  fuit  inter  P.  Africanum 

et  Q.  Metelhim  sine  acerbitate  dissensio. 

S8        Nec  vero  audiendi,  qui  graviter  inimicis  irascen- 

dum  putabunt  idque  magnanimi  et  fortis  viri  esse 

censebunt;  nihil  enim  laudabilius,  nihil.magno  et 

praeclaro  viro  dignius  placabihtate  atque  clementia. 

In  libcris  vero  popuhs  et  in  iuris  aequabihtate  exer- 
88 


BOOK  I.  XXV 

All  this  the  citizen  who  is  patriotic,  brave,  and  wortliy 
of  a  leading  place  in  the  state  will  shim  with  abhor- 
rence ;  he  will  dedicate  himself  unreservedly  to  his 
country,  without  aiming  at  influence  or  power  for 
himself;  and  he  will  devote  himself  to  the  state  in 
its  entirety  in  such  a  way  as  to  further  the  interests 
of  all.  Besides,  he  will  not  expose  anyone  to  hatred 
or  disrepute  by  groundless  charges,  but  he  will 
surely  cleave  to  justice  and  honour  so  closely  that  he 
will  submit  to  any  loss,  however  heavy,  rather  than 
be  untrue  to  them,  and  will  face  death  itself  rather 
than  renounce  them. 

A  most  wretched  custom,  assuredly,  is  our  elec-  (2)  self-seeking, 
tioneering  and  scrambling  for  office.  Concerning 
this  also  we  find  a  fine  thought  in  Plato:  Those 
who  compete  against  one  another/'  he  says,  to  see 
which  of  two  candidates  shall  administer  the  govern- 
ment,  are  like  sailors  quarrelhng  as  to  which  one  of 
them  shall  do  the  steering."  And  he  Hkewise  lays 
down  the  rule  that  we  should  regard  only  those  as 
adversaries  who  take  up  ai-ms  against  the  state,  not 
those  who  strive  to  have  the  government  adminis- 
tered  according  to  their  convictions.  This  was  the 
spirit  of  the  disagreement  between  PubHus  Africanus 
and  Quintus  Metelhis :  there  was  in  it  no  trace  of 
rancour. 

Neither  must  we  hsten  to  those  who  think  that  (3)  vindictive- 
one  should  indulge  in  violent  anger  against  one's  '^*'^*' 
pohtical  enemies  and  imagine  that  such  is  the 
attitude  of  a  great-spirited,  brave  man.  For 
nothing  is  more  commendable,  nothing  more 
becoming  in  a  pre-eminently  great  man  than  cour- 
tesy  and  forbearance.  Indeed,  in  a  free  people, 
where  all  enjoy  equal  rights  before  the  law^  we 

89 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
cenda  etiam  est  facilitas  et  altitudo  animi,  quae 
dicitur,  ne,  si  irascamur  aut  intempestive  accedenti- 
bus  aut  impudenter  rogantibus,  in  morositatem 
inutilem  et  odiosam  incidamus.  Et  tamen  ita  pro- 
bunda  est  mansuetudo  atque  clementia,  ut  adhibeatur 
rei  publicae  causa  severitas^  sine  qua  administrari 
civitas  non  potest.  Omnis  autem  et  animadversio 
et  castigatio  contumelia  vacare  debet  neque  ad  eius, 
qui  punitur'  aliquem  aut  verbis  castigat/  sed  ad  rei 
publicae  utilitatem  referri. 

89  Cavendum  est  etiam,  ne  maior  poena  quam  culpa 
sit,  et  ne  isdem  de  causis  alii  plectantur,  alii  ne 
appellentur  quidem.  Prohibenda  autem  maxime 
est  ira  in  puniendo ;  numquam  enim,  iratus  qui  acce- 
det  ad  poenam,  mediocritatem  illam  tenebit,  quae 
est  inter  nimium  et  parum,  quae  placet  Peripateticis, 
et  recte  placet,  modo  ne  laudarent  iracundiam  et 
dicerent  utiliter  a  natura  datam.  Illa  vero  omnibus 
in  rebus  repudianda  est  optandumque,  ut  ii,  qui 
praesunt  rei  publicae,  legum  similes  sint,  quae  ad 
puniendum  non  iracundia,  sed  aequitate  dicuntur. 

90  XXVI.  Atque  etiam  in  rebus  prosperis  et  ad 
voluntatem   nostram    fluentibus    superbiam    magno- 

^  puiiitur  Nonlus,  Edd. ;  punii  a  ;  puniet  A  B  H  b  c. 
2  castigat  MSS.;  fatigat  Nonius,  Orelli. 

»  The  quality  elsewliere  expressed  by  Cicero  with  paO&rrit 
— '  depth,'  '  reserve,'  the  art  of  concealing'  and  controUing' 
one's  feelings  under  an  outward  serenity  of  manner. 

90 


BOOK  I.  xxv-xxvi 

must  school  ourselves  to  afFability  and  what  is  called 
mental  poise"*;  for  if  we  are  irritated  when  people 
intrude  upon  us  at  unseasonable  hours  or  make  un- 
reasonable  requests,  we  shall  develop  a  sour^  churHsh 
temper,  prejudicial  to  ourselves  and  ofFensive  to 
others.  And  yet  gentleness  of  spirit  and  forbear- 
ance  are  to  be  commended  only  with  the  under- 
standing  that  strictness  may  be  exercised  for  the 
good  of  the  state;  for  without  that,  the  govern- 
ment  cannot  be  well  administered.  On  the  other 
hand,  if  punishment  or  correction  must  be  adminis- 
tered,  it  need  not  be  insulting;  it  ought  to  have 
regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  state,  nottothe  personal 
satisfaction  of  the  man  who  administers  the  punish- 
ment  or  reproof. 

We  should  take  care  also  that  the  punishment  W  anger 
shall  not  be  out  of  proportion  to  the  ofFence,  and 
that  some  shall  not  be  chastised  for  the  same  fault 
for  which  others  are  not  even  called  to  account.  In 
administering  punishment  it  is  above  all  necessary 
to  allow  no  trace  of  anger.  For  if  anyone  proceeds 
in  a  passion  to  inflict  punishment,  he  will  never 
observe  that  happy  mean  which  lies  between  excess 
and  defect.  This  doctrine  of  the  mean  is  approved 
by  the  Peripatetics — and  wisely  approved,  if  only 
they  did  not  speak  in  praise  of  anger  and  tell  us 
that  it  is  a  gift  bestowed  on  us  by  Nature  for  a  good 
purpose.  But  in  reality,  anger  is  in  every  circum- 
stance  to  be  eradicated ;  and  it  is  to  be  desired  that 
they  who  administer  the  government  should  be  Hke 
the  laws,  which  are  led  to  inflict  punishment  not  by 
wrath  but  by  justice^^^ 

XXVI.  Again,  when  fortune  smiles  and  the  stream  Fortitude  in 
of  hfe  flows  according  to  our  wishes,  let  us  dihgently  P''"*?®"'^* 

91 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
pere,  fastidium  arrogantiamque  fugiamus.  Nam  ut 
adversas  res,  sic  seeundas  immoderate  ferre  levitatis 
est,  praeclaraque  est  aequabilitas  in  omni  vita  et 
idem  semper  vultus  eademque  frons,  ut  de  Socrate 
itemque^  de  C.  Laelio  accepimus.^  Philippum  qui- 
dem,  Macedonum  regem^  rebus  gestis  et  gloria 
superatum  a  filio,  facilitate  et  humanitate  video 
superiorem  fuisse ;  itaque  alter  semper  magnus,  alter 
saepe  turpissimus;  ut  recte  praecipere  videantur, 
qui  monent,  ut,  quanto  superiores  simus,  tanto  nos 
geramus  summissius.  Panaetius  quidem  Africanum, 
auditorem  et  famiharem  suum,  solitum  ait  dicere, 
'^ut  equos  propter  crebras  contentiones  proeliorum 
ferocitate  exsultantes  domitoribus  tradere  soleant, 
ut  iis  ^  facilioribus  possint  uti,  sic  homines  secundis 
rebus  effrenatos  sibique  praefidentes  tamquam  in 
gyrum  rationis  et  doctrinae  duci  oportere,  ut 
perspicerent  rerum  humanarum  imbecilHtatem  varie- 
tatemque  fortunae." 
91  Atque  etiam  in  secundissimis  rebus  maxime  est 
utendum  consilio  amicorum  iisque  maior  etiam  quam 
ante  tribuenda  auctoritas.  Isdemque  temporibus 
cavendum  est,  ne  assentatoribus  patefaciamus  auris 
neve^  adulari  nos  sinamus,  in  quo  faUi  facile  est; 
tales  enim  nos  esse  putamus,  ut  iure  laudemur;  ex 

^  itenique  H-  a,  Edd. ;  idcmqiie  A  B  H*  L  b  c. 
2  accepitmis  B'^  a  c,  Edd. ;  accipiinus  A  B'  H  b. 
8«^  Edd.;  A«5MSS. 
*  neve  Nonius,  Edd. ;  nec  MSS. 
92 


BOOK  I.  xxvi 

avoid  all  arrogance,  haughtiness,  and  pride.  For  it 
is  as  much  a  sign  of  weakness  to  give  way  to  one's 
feelings  in  success  as  it  is  in  adversity.  But  it 
is  a  fine  thing  to  keep  an  unruffled  temper,  an  un- 
changing  mien,  and  the  same  cast  of  countenance 
in  every  condition  of  life;  tliis,  history  tells  us, 
was  characteristic  of  Socrates  and  no  less  of  Gaius 
Laehus.  Philip,  king  of  Macedon,  I  observe,  how- 
ever  surpassed  by  his  son  in  achievements  and  fame, 
was  superior  to  him  in  affabihty  and  refinement. 
Philip,  accordingly,  was  always  great ;  Alexander, 
often  infamously  bad.  There  seems  to  be  sound 
advice,  therefore,  in  this  word  of  warning :  The 
higher  we  are  placed,  the  more  humbly  should  we  Humility. 
walk."  Panaetius  tells  us  that  Africanus,  his  pupil 
and  friend,  used  to  say :  As,  when  horses  have 
become  mettlesome  and  unmanageable  on  account 
of  their  frequent  participation  in  battles,  their 
owners  put  them  in  the  hands  of  trainers  to  make 
them  more  tractable;  so  men,  who  through  pros- 
perity  have  become  restive  and  over  self-confident, 
ought  to  be  put  into  the  training-ring,  so  to  speak, 
of  reason  and  learning,  that  they  may  be  brought  to 
comprehend  the  fiailty  of  human  affairs  and  the 
fickleness  of  fortune." 

The  greater  our  prosperity,  moreover,  the  more 
should  we  seek  the  counsel  of  friends,  and  the 
greater  the  heed  that  should  be  given  to  their 
advice.  Under  such  circumstances  also  we  must 
beware  of  lending  an  ear  to  sycophants  or  allowing 
them  to  impose  upon  us  with  their  flattery.  For 
it  is  easy  in  this  way  to  deceive  ourselves,  since 
we  thus  come  to  think  ourselves  duly  entitled  to 
praise ;  and  to  this  frame  of  mind  a  thousand  delusions 

93 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quo  nascuntur  innumerabilia  peccata,  cum  homines 
inflati  opinionibus  turpiter  irridentur  et  in  maximis 
versantur  erroribus. 

Sed  haec  quidem  hactenus. 

92  Illud  autem  sic  est  iudicandum,  maximas  geri  res 
et  maximi  animi  ab  iis,^  qui  res  publicas  regant, 
quod  earum  administratio  latissime  pateat  ad  phiri- 
mosque  pertineat;  esse  autem  magni  animi  et  fuisse 
multos  etiam  in  vita  otiosa,  qui  aut  investigarent 
aut  conarentur  magna  quaedam  seseque  suarum 
rerum  finibus  continerent  aut  interiecti  inter  philo- 
sophos  et  eos,  qui  rem  publicam  administrarent, 
delectarentur  re  sua  famihari  non  eam  quidem  omni 
ratione  exaggerantes  neque  excludentes  ab  eius  usu 
suos  potiusque  et  amicis  impertientes  et  rei  pubhcae, 
si  quando  usus  esset.  Quae  primum  bene  parta^  sit 
nullo  neque  turpi  quaestu  neque  odioso,  deinde 
augeatur  ratione,  diligentia,  parsimonia,^  tum  quam 
plurimis,  modo  dignis,  se  utilem  praebeat  nec 
Hbidini  potius  luxuriaeque  quam  hberahtati  et  bene- 
ficentiae  pareat. 

Haec  pi-aescripta  servantem  licet  magnifice,  gra- 
viter  animoseque  vivere  atque  etiam  simphciter, 
fideliter,  t  vere  hominum  amice. 

93  XXVII.  Sequitur,  ut  de  una  rehqua  parte 
honestatis  dicendum  sit,  in  qua  verecundia  et  quasi 

Uts  Edd.;  /iis  MSS. 

2  parfa  BS  Edd. ;  parata  A  B^  H  L  a  b  c. 
'^  deinde  .  .  .  parsimonia  Edd.,  after  Unger,  transpose  ; 
in  MSS.  it  follows  tum  .  .  .  pareat. 

Ȥ70. 

94> 


BOOK  1.  xxvi-xxvfi 

may  be  traced,  when  men  are  pufFed  up  with  conceit 
and  expose  themselves  to  ignominy  and  ridicule  by 
committing  the  most  egregious  blunders. 

So  much  for  this  subject. 

To  revert  to  the  original  question^ — we  must  Greatness  of 
decide  that  the  most  important  activities,  those  ^nd  in"private 
most  indicative  of  a  great  spirit,  are  performed  by  ''^^- 
the  men  who  direct  the  afFairs  of  nations ;  for  such 
public  activities  have  the  widest  scope  and  toucli 
the  lives  of  the  most  people.  But  even  in  the  Hfe 
of  retirement  there  are  and  there  have  been  many 
high-souled  men  who  have  been  engaged  in  impor- 
tant  inquiries  or  embarked  on  most  important 
enterprises  and  yet  kept  themselves  within  the 
Hmits  of  their  own  affairs;  or,  taking  a  middle 
course  between  philosophers  on  the  one  hand  and 
statesmen  on  the  other,  they  were  content  with 
managing  their  own  property — not  increasing  it  by 
any  and  every  means  nor  debarring  their  kindred 
from  the  enjoyment  of  it,  but  rather,  if  ever  there 
were  need,  sharing  it  with  their  friends  and  with 
the  state.  Only  let  it,  in  the  first  place,  be  honestly 
acquired,  by  the  use  of  no  dishonest  or  fraudulent 
means;  let  it,  in  the  second  place,  increase  by 
wisdom,  industry,  and  thrift;  and,  finally,  let  it 
be  made  available  for  the  use  of  as  many  as  possible 
(if  only  they  are  M-orthy)  and  be  at  the  service  of 
generosity  and  beneficence  rather  than  of  sensuality 
and  excess. 

By  observing  these  rules,  one  may  live  in  magnifi- 
cence,  dignity,  and  independence,  and  yet  in  honour, 
truth  and  charity  toward  all. 

XXVII.    We   have   next  to  discuss  the  one  re- d.  Temperance. 
maining  division  of  moral  rectitude.    That  is  the  one 

95 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quidam  ornaUis  vitae,  temperantia  et  modestia 
omnisque  sedatio  perturbationum  animi  et  rerum 
modus  cernitur.  Hoc  loco  continetur  id,  quod  dici 
Latine  decorum  potest ;  Graece  enim  TrpeTrov  dici- 
tur.     Huius'  vis   ea   est,  ut  ab  honesto  non  queat 

94-  separari ;  nam  et,  quod  decet,  honestum  est  et, 
quod  honestum  est,  decet ;  qualis  autem  differentia 
sit  honesti  et  decori,  facilius  intellegi  quam  explanari 
potest.  Quicquid  est  enim,  quod  deceat,  id  tum 
apparet,  cum  antegressa  est  honestas.  Itaque  non 
solum  in  hac  parte  honestatis,  de  qua  hoc  loco 
disserendum  est,  sed  etiam  in  tribus  superioribus 
quid  deceat  apparet.  Nam  et  ratione  uti  atque 
oratione  prudenter  et  agere,  quod  agas,  considerate 
omnique  in  re  quid  sit  veri  videre  et  tueri  decet, 
contraque  falli,  errare,  labi,  decipi  tam  dedecet 
quam  delirare  et  mente  esse  captum ;  et  iusta  omnia 
decora  sunt,  iniusta  contra,  ut  turpia,  sic  indecora. 

Similis  est  ratio  fortitudinis.  Quod  enim  viriliter 
animoque  magno  fit,  id  dignum  viro  et  decorum 
videtur,  quod  contra,  id  ut  turpe,  sic  indecorum. 

95  Quare  pertinet  quidem  ad  omnem  honestatem 
hoc,  quod  dico,  decorum,  et  ita  pertinet,  ut  non 
recondita  quadam  ratione  cernatur,  sed  sit  in 
promptu.      Est    enim    quiddam,    idque    intellegitur 

^  dicitur.     Huius  Y.A6..;  dicitur  decorum.    Aw/w.y  MSS. 

!'  Decorum  Cicero's  attempt  to  translate  irpiwov,  means 
an  appreciation  of  the  fitness  of  thingfs,  propriety  iii  inward 
feeling- or  outward  appearance,  inspeech,  behaviour,  dress, 
etc.  Decorum  is  as  didicult  to  translate  into  EngHsh  as 
irpiirov  is  to  reproduce  in  Latin ;  as  an  adjective,  it  is  here 
rendered  by  '  proper,'  as  a  noun,  by  '  propriety.' 

96 


BOOK  I.  xxvii 

in  which  we  find  considerateness  and  self-control, 

which  give,  as  it  were,  a  sort  of  pohsh  to  Hfe;   it 

embraces  also  temperance,   complete  subjection  of 

all    the    passions,    and    moderation    in    all    things. 

Under  this  head  is  further  included  what,  in  Latin,  Propriety 

may  be   called  decorum^  (propriety);   for  in  Greek 

it  is   called  ■Kpkirov.^     Such  is  its  essential  nature, 

that  it  is  inseparable  from  moral  goodness ;  for  wliat 

is  proper  is  morally  right,  and  what  is  morally  right 

is  proper.     The   nature  of  the  difference  between 

morahty  and  propriety  can  be  more  easily  felt  than 

expressed.     For  whatever  propriety  may   be,    it  is 

manifested  only  when  there  is  pre-existing  moral 

rectitude.    And  so,  not  onlj'^  in  this  division  of  moral 

rectitude  which  we  have  now  to  discuss  but  also  in 

the  three  preceding  divisions,  it  is  clearly  brought  out 

what  propriety  is.     For  to  employ  reason  and  speech  Proprietyand 

rationally,  to   do  with  careful   consideration  what-  virtyl^  '" 

ever  one   does,   and   in  everything  to  discern  the 

truth    and   to    uphoid    it — that   is   proper.     To  be 

mistaken,   on  the   other  hand,   to  miss  the   truth, 

to   fall    into    error,    to    be    led    astray — that   is    as 

improper  as  to  be  deranged  and  lose  one's  mind. 

And  all  things  just  are  proper;  all  things  unjust, 

Hke  all  things  immoral,  are  improper. 

The  relation  of  propriety  to  fortitude  is  similar. 
What  is  done  in  a  manly  and  courageous  spirit  seems 
becoming  to  a  man  and  proper;  what  is  done  in  a 
contrary  fashion  is  at  once  immoral  and  improper. 

This  propriety,  therefore,  of  which  I  am  speak- 
ing  belongs  to  each  division  of  moral  rectitude; 
and  its  relation  to  the  cardinal  virtues  is  so  close, 
that  it  is  perfectly  self-evident  and  does  not  require 
any  abstruse  process  of  reasoning  to  see  it.  For 
H  97 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
in  omni  virtute,  quod  deceat ;  quod  cogitatione 
magis  a  virtute  potest  quam  re  separari.  Ut  venu- 
stas  et  pulchritudo  corporis  secerni  non  potest  a 
valetudine,  sic  hoc^  de  quo  loquimur,  decorum  totum 
illud  quidem  est  cum  virtute  confusum,  sed  mente 
et  cogitatione  distinguitur. 

96  Est  autem  eius  discriptio^  duplex;  nam  et  gene- 
rale  quoddam  decorum  intellegimus,  quod  in  omni 
honestate  versatur,  et  ahud  huic  subiectum,  quod 
pertinet  ad  singulas  partes  honestatis.  Atque  illud 
superius  sic  fere  definiri  solet:  decorum  id  esse, 
quod  consentaneum  sit  hominis  excellentiae  in  eo,  in 
quo  natura  eius  a  reliquis  animantibus  difFerat. 
Quae  autem  pars  subiecta  generi  est,  eam  sic  defini- 
unt,  ut  id  decorum  velint  esse,  quod  ita  naturae 
consentaneum  sit,  ut  in  eo  moderatio  et  temperantia 
appareat  cum  specie  quadam  Hberali. 

97  XXVIII.  Haec  ita  intellegi  possumus  existimare 
ex  eo  decoro,  quod  poetae  sequuntur:  de  quo  aho 
loco  plura  dici  solent.  Sed  tum^  servare  illud  poe- 
tas,  quod  deceat,  dicimus,  cum  id,  quod  quaque 
persona  dignum  est,  et  fit  et  dicitur;  ut,  si  Aeacus 
aut  Minos  diceret: 

oderint,  dum  metuant, 

aut: 

natis  sepulchro  ipse  6st  parens, 

*  discriptio  b  Edd. ;  descriptio  A  B  H  a  ;  distinctio  L  c 
'  Sed  tum  L  c,  Edd. ;  sed  ut  tum  A  B  H  b. 

98 


BOOK  I.  xxvii-xxviii 

there  is  a  certain  element  of  propriety  perceptible 
in  every  act  of  moral  rectitude;  and  tliis  can  be 
separated  from  virtue  theoretically  better  than  it 
can  be  practically.  As  comeHness  and  beauty  of 
person  are  inseparable  from  the  notion  of  health, 
so  this  propriety  of  which  we  are  speaking,  while 
in  fact  completely  blended  with  virtue,  is  mentally 
and  theoretically  distinguishable  from  it. 

The  classification  of  propriety,  moreover,  is  two-  Propriety 
fold :  (l )  we  assume  a  general  sort  of  propriety,  which    "^  '^^  ' 
is  found  in  moral  goodness  as  a  whole;    then  (2) 
there  is  another  propriety,  subordinate  to  this,  which 
belongs  to  the  several  divisions  of  moral  goodness. 
The  former  is  usually  defined  somewhat  as  follows: 

Propriety  is  that  which  harmonizes  with  man's 
superiority  in  those  respects  in  which  his  nature 
differs  from  that  of  the  rest  of  the  animal  creation." 
And  they  so  define  the  special  type  of  propriety 
which  is  subordinate  to  the  general  notion,  that 
they  repi-esent  it  to  be  that  propriety  which 
harmonizes  with  nature,  in  the  sense  that  it 
manifestly  embraces  temperance  and  self-control, 
together  with  a  certain  deportment  such  as  becomes 
a  gentleman. 

XXVIII.  That  this  is  the  common  acceptation  of  Poetic 
propriety  we  may  infer  from  that  propriety  which  P''°p"^*''' 
poets  aim  to  secure.  Concerning  that,  I  have  occa- 
sion  to  say  more  in  another  connection.  Now, 
we  say  that  the  poets  observe  propriety,  when  every 
word  or  action  is  in  accord  with  each  individual 
character.     For  example,  if  Aeacus  or  Minos  said : 

Let  them  hate,  if  only  they  fear/' 
or: 

The  father  is  himself  his  ch.:ldren's  tomb," 
h2  qo 


CICEIIO  DE  OFFICIIS 
indecorum  videretur,  quod  eos  fuisse  iustos  accepi- 
mus;  at  Atreo  dicente  plausus  excitantur;  est  enim 
digna  persona  oratio.  Sed  poetae^  quid  quemque 
deceat,  ex  persona  iudicabunt;  nobis  autem  perso- 
nam  imposuit  ipsa  natura  magna  cum  excellentia 
praestantiaque  animantium  reliquarum. 

98  Quoeirca  poetae  in  magna  varietnte  personarum, 
etiam  vitiosis  quid  conveniat  et  quid  deceat,  vide- 
bunt,  nobis  autem  cum  a  natura  constantiae,  mode- 
rationis,  temperantiae,  verecundiae  partes  datae  sint, 
cumque  eadem  natura  doceat  non  neglegere,  quem 
ad  modum  nos  adversus  homines  geramus,  efficitur, 
ut  et  illud,  quod  ad  omnem  honestatem  pertinet, 
decorum  quam  late  fusum  sit,  appareat  et  hoc,  quod 
spectatur  in  uno  quoque  genere  virtutis.  Ut  enim 
pulchritudo  corporis  apta  compositione  membrorum 
movet  oculos  et  delectat  hoc  ipso,  quod  inter  sc 
omnes  partes  cum  quodam  lepore  consentiunt,  sic 
hoc  decorum,  quod  elucet  in  vita,  movet  approba- 
tionem  eorum,  quibuscum  vivitur,  ordine  et  con- 
stantia  et  moderatione  dictorum  omnium  at^ue 
factorum. 

99  Adhibenda  est  igitur  quaedam  reverentia  adver- 
sus  homines  et  optimi  cuiusque  et  reliquorum.  Nam 
neglegere,  quid  de  se  quisque  sentiat,  non  solum  arro- 

*  reliquarum  A'  B'  H  a  b ;  reliquorum  S^  B-  c. 
100 


BOOK  I.  xxviii 

that  would  seem  improper,  because  we  are  told  that 
they  were  just  men.  But  when  Atreus  speaks  those 
lines,  they  call  forth  applause ;  for  the  sentiment  is 
in  keeping  with  the  character.  But  it  will  rest 
with  the  poets  to  decidc;,  according  to  the  individual 
characters^  what  is  proper  for  each ;  but  to  us  Nature 
herself  has  assigned  a  character  of  surpassing  excel- 
lence,  far  superior  to  that  of  all  other  living  crea- 
tures,  and  in  accoi-dance  with  that  we  shall  have  to 
decide  what  propriety  requires. 

The  poets  will  observe^  therefore,  amid  a  great 
variety  of  characters,  what  is  suitable  and  proper 
for  all — even  for  the  bad.  But  to  us  Nature  Morai 
has  assigned  the  roles  of  steadfastness,  temperance,  ^^°P^'''-^y 
self-control,  and  considerateness  of  others ;  Nature 
also  teaches  us  not  to  be  careless  in  our  behaviour 
towards  our  fellow-men.  Hence  we  may  clearly  see 
how  wide  is  the  application  not  only  of  that  pro- 
priety  which  is  essential  to  moral  rectitude  in 
general,  but  also  of  the  special  propriety  which  is 
displayed  in  each  particular  subdivision  of  virtue. 
For,  as  physical  beauty  with  harmonious  symmetrj^ 
of  the  limbs  engages  the  attention  and  delights  the 
eye,  for  the  very  reason  that  all  the  parts  combine 
in  harmony  and  grace,  so  this  propriety,  which 
shines  out  in  our  conduct,  engages  the  approbation 
of  our  fellow-men  by  the  order,  consistency,  and 
self-control  it  imposes  upon  every  word  and  deed. 

We  should,  therefore,  in  our  dealings  with  people  Considerateuesi 
show  what  I  may  almost  call  reverence  toward  all 
men — not  only  toward  the  men  who  are  the  best,  but 
toward  others  as  well.  For  indifference  to  publie 
opinion  implies  not  merely  self-sufficiency,  but  even 
total  lack  of  principle.  There  is,  too,  a  difference  be- 

101 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

gantis  estj  sed  etiam  omnino  dissoluti.  Est  autem,  quod 
differat  in  hominum  ratione  habenda  inter  iustitiam 
et  verecundiam.  lustitiae  partes  sunt  non  violare 
homines,  verecundiae  non  offendere ;  in  quo  maxime 
vis  perspicitur  decori. 

His  igitur  expositis,  quale  sit  id,  quod  decere 
dicimuSj  intellectum  puto. 

100  Officium  autem,  quod  ab  eo  ducitur,  hanc  primum 
habet  viam,  quae  deducit  ad  convenientiam  conser- 
vationemque  naturae;  quam  si  sequemur  ducem, 
numquam  aberrabimus  sequemurque  et  id,  quod 
acutum  et  perspicax  natura  est,  et  id,  quod  ad  ho- 
minum  consociationem  accommodatum,  et  id,  quod 
vehemens  atque  forte.  Sed  maxima  vis  decori  in 
hac  inest  parte,  de  qua  disputamus;  neque  enim 
solum  corporis,  qui  ad  naturam  apti  sunt,  sed  multo 
etiam  magis  animi  motus  probandi,  qui  item  ad 
naturam  accommodati  sunt. 

101  Duplex  est  enim  vis  animorum  atque  natura;^ 
una  pars  in  appetitu  posita  est,  quae  est  opiii]  Graece, 
quae  hominem  huc  et  illuc  rapit,  altera  in  ratione, 
quae  docet  et"  explanat,  quid  faciendum  fugiendum- 
que  ^  sit.  Ita  fit,  ut  ratio  praesit,  appetitus  obtem- 
peret. 

XXIX.  Omnis  autem  actio  vacare  debet  teme- 
ritate  et  neglegentia  nec  vero  agere  quicquam, 
cuius  non  possit  causam  probabilem  reddere;  haec 
est  enim  fere  discriptio*  officii. 

102  Efficiendum     autem     est,     ut     appetitus     rationi 

^  natura  Edd.;  naturae  MSS. 
2  ^^  L  c,  Edd. ;  not  in  A  B  H  b. 
^ fugiendumque  A  B  H  a  b ;  fugiendumve  L  c  p. 
*discriptio  B  H,  Bt.^;  descriptio  A  L  a  b  c,  Bt.'^  MuIIer, 
Heine. 

102 


BOOK  I.  xxviii-xxix 

twecR  justice  and  considerateness  in  one's  relations 
'o  one's  fellow-men.  It  is  the  function  of  justice 
not  to  do  wrong  to  one's  fellow-men;  of  consider- 
ateness,  not  to  wound  their  feehngs ;  and  in  this  the 
essence  of  propriety  is  best  seen. 

With  the  foregoing  exposition,  I  think  it  is  clear 
what  the  nature  is  of  what  we  term  propriety. 

Further,  as  to  the  duty  which  has  its  source  in  Dutiespre- 
propriety,  the   first  road  on   which  it  conducts  us  p^J^ew^  ^^  ^*^"* 
leads  to  harmony  with  Nature  and  the  faithful  ob- 
servance  of  her  laws.     If  we  follow  Nature  as  our  (i)  foUow 
guide,  we  shall  never  go  astray,  but  we   shall  be  '^^^"'^®' 
pursuing  that  wliich  is  in  its  nature  clear-sighted 
and  penetrating  (Wisdom),  that  which  is  adapted  to 
promote  and  strengthen  society  (justice),  and  that 
which  is   strong  and  courageous  (Fortitude).     But 
the  very  essence  of  propriety  is  found  in  the  division 
of  virtue  which  is  now  under  discussion  (Temper- 
ance).   For  it  is  only  when  they  agree  with  Nature's 
laws  that  we  should  give  our  approval  to  the  move- 
ments  not  only  of  the  body,  but  still  more  of  the 
spirit. 

Now  we  find  that  tne  essential  activity  of  the  (2)subject 
spirit  is  twofold :  one  force  is  appetite  (that  is,  opfir'),  reason!^  *" 
in  Greek),  which  impels  a  man  this  way  and  that ; 
the   other  is    reason,   which  teaches    and    explains 
what  should  be  done  and  what  should  be  left  undone. 
The  result  is  that  reason  commands,  appetite  obeys. 

XXIX.  Again,  every  action  ought  to  be  free  from 
undue  haste  or  carelessness ;  neither  ought  we  to 
do  anything  for  which  we  cannot  assign  a  reasonable 
motive;  for  in  these  words  we  have  practically  a 
definition  of  duty. 

The  appetites,  moreover,  must  be  made  to  obey 

103 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

oboediant  eamque  neque  praecurrant  nec  propter 
pigritiam  aut  ignaviam  deserant  sintque  tranquilli 
atque  omni  animi  perturbatione  careant;  ex  quo 
elucebit  omnis  constantia  omnisque  moderatio.  Nam 
qui  appetitus  longius  evagantur  et  tamquam  ex- 
sultantes  sive  cupiendo  sive  fugiendo  non  satis  a 
ratione  retinentur,  ii^  sine  dubio  finem  et  modum 
transeunt ;  relinquunt  enim  et  abiciunt  oboedientiam 
nec  rationi  parent,  cui  sunt  subiecti  lege  naturae; 
a  quibus  non  modo  animi  perturbantur,  sed  etiam 
corpora.  Licet  ora  ipsa  cernere  iratorum  aut  eorum, 
qui  aut  libidine  aliqua  aut  metu  commoti  sunt  aut 
voluptate  nimia  gestiunt;  quorum  omnium  voltus, 
voces,  motus  statusque  mutantur. 
103  Ex  quibus  illud  intellegitur,  ut  ad  officii  formam 
revertamur,  appetitus  omnes  contrahendos  sedan- 
dosque  esse  excitandamque  animadversionem  et 
dibgentiam^  ut  ne  quid  temere  ac  fortuito,  incon- 
siderate  neglegenterque  agamus.  Neque  enim  ita 
generati  a  natura  sumus^  ut  ad  ludum  et  iocum  facti 
esse  videamur,  ad  severitatem  potius  et  ad  quaedam 
studia  graviora  atque  maiora.  Ludo  autem  et  ioco 
uti  illo  quidem  licetj  sed  sicut  somno  et  quietibus 
ceteris  tum,  cum  gravibus  seriisque  rebus  satis 
fecerimus.  Ipsumque  genus  iocandi  non  profusum 
nec  immodestum^  sed  ingenuum  et  facetum  esse 
debet.  Ut  enim  pueris  non  omnem  ludendi  licen- 
tiam  damus,  sed  eam,  quae  ab  honestatis  actionibus 

'  ii  Edd. ;  hi  a ;  hii  H  ;  hij  c. 
104 


BOOK  I.  xxix 

the  reins  of  reason  and  neither  allowcd  to  run  ahead 

of  it  nor  from  listlessness  or  indolence  to  lag  behind  ; 

but  people  should  enjoy  calm  of  soul  and  be  free 

from   every  sort  of  passion.     As  a  result  strength  Seif-controi  ir 

of  character  and  self-control  will  shine  forth  in  all      passions, 

their   lustre.     For   when    appetites    overstep    their 

bounds  and  galloping  away,  so  to  speak,  whether 

in    desire   or  aversion,  are   not  well  held   in   hand 

by   reason,   they    clearly    overleap   all    bound    and 

measure;   for  they  throw  obedience    ofF  and  leave 

it  behind  and  refuse  to  obey  the  reins  of  reason^ 

to  which  they  are  subject  by  Nature's  laws.     And 

not  only  minds  but  bodies  as  well  are  disordered  by 

such  appetites.     We  need  only  to  look  at  the  faces 

of  men  in  a  rage  or  under  the  influence  of  some 

passion  or  fear  or  beside  themselves  with  extravagant 

joy :  in  every  instance  their  features,  voices,  motions, 

attitudes  undergo  a  change. 

From  all  this — to  return  to  our  sketch  of  duty — 
we  see  that  all  the  appetites  must  be  controlled 
and  calmed  and  that  we  must  take  infinite  pains 
not  to  do  anything  from  mere  impulse  or  at  random, 
without  due  consideration  and  care.  For  Nature  has  (2)  amusemcnts,' 
not  brought  us  into  the  world  to  act  as  if  we  were 
created  for  play  or  jest,  but  rather  for  earnestness 
and  for  some  more  serious  and  important  pursuits. 
We  may,  of  course,  indulge  in  sport  and  jest,  but  in 
the  same  way  as  we  enjoy  sleep  or  other  relaxations, 
and  only  wlien  we  have  satisfied  the  claims  of  our 
earnest,  serious  tasks.  Further  than  that,  the  man-  (3)  raiUery, 
ner  of  jesting  itself  ouglit  not  to  be  extravagant  or 
immoderate,  but  refined  and  witty.  For  as  we  do 
not  grant  our  children  unlimited  licence  to  play, 
but  only  such  freedom  as  is  not  incompatible  with 

10.0 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

non  sit  aliena,  sic  in  ipso  ioco  aliquod  probi  ingenii 

104  lumen  eluceat.  Duplex  omnino  est  iocandi  genus, 
unum  illiberale,  petulans,  flagitiosum,  obscenum, 
alterum  elegans,  urbanum,  ingeniosum,  facetum. 
Quo  genere  non  modo  Plautus  noster  et  Atticorum 
antiqua  comoedia,  sed  etiam  philosophorum  Socra- 
ticorum  libri  referti  sunt,  multaque  multorum  facete 
dicta,  ut  ea,  quae  a  sene  Catone  collecta  sunt,  quae 
vocant  aTTo4>Biyiiara.  Facilis  igitur  est  distinctio 
ingenui  et  illiberalis  ioci.  Alter  est,  si  tempore 
fit,  ut  si  remisso  animo,  gravissimo  homine  dignus,^ 
alter  ne  libero  quidem,  si  rerum  turpitudini  adhi- 
betur  verborum^  obscenitas. 

Ludendi  etiam  est  quidam  modus  retinendus, 
ut  ne  nimis  omnia  profundamus  elatique  voluptate 
in  aliquam  turpitudinem  delabamur.  Suppeditant 
autem  et  campus  noster  et  studia  venandi  honesta 
exempla  ludendi. 

105  XXX.  Sed  pertinet  ad  omnem  officii  quaestionem 
semper  in  promptu  habere,  quantum  natura  hominis 
pecudibus  reliquisque  beluis  antecedat;  illae  nihil 
sentiunt  nisi  voluptatem  ad  eamque  feruntur  omni 
impetu,  hominis  autem  mens  discendo  alitur  et 
cogitando,  semper  ahquid  aut  anquirit  aut  agit 
videndique  et  audiendi  delectatione  ducitur.  Quin 
etiam,  si  quis  est  paulo  ad  voluptates  propensior, 
modo  ne  sit  ex  pecudum  genere  (sunt  enim  quidam 
homines  non  re,  sed  nomine),  sed  si  quis  est  paulo 

^  Jit,  ut  si  remisso  animo,  gravissimo  homine  dignus  Ed.; 
fit,  ut  (et  c)  remisso  animo  homine  dignus  MSS,;Jit  aut  si 
rem.  an.  magno  homine  Madvig  ',Jit,  ut  sit  remissio  animo, 
hojnine  dignus  Ung^er. 

^  turpitudini  adhibetur  verhorum  A  B  H  a  b,  Edd. ;  turpi» 
tudo  adhibetur  et  verborum  L  c. 

106 


BOOK  I.  xxix-xxx 

good  conduct,  so  even  in  our  jesting  let  the  light 
)4  of  a  pure  character  shine  forth.  There  are,  generally 
speaking,  two  sorts  of  jest:  the  one^  coarse^  rude, 
vicious,  indecent ;  the  other,  refined,  polite,  clever, 
witty.  With  this  latter  sort  not  only  our  own 
Plautus  and  the  Old  Comedy  of  Athens,  but  also 
the  books  of  Socratic  philosophy  abound;  and  we 
have  many  witty  sayings  of  many  men — hke  those 
collected  by  old  Cato  under  the  title  of  Bons  Mots 
(or  Apophthegms).  So  the  distinction  between  the 
elegant  and  the  vulgar  jest  is  an  easy  matter:  the 
one  kind,  if  well  timed  (for  instance,  in  hours  of 
mental  relaxation),  is  becoming  to  the  most  dignified 
person ;  the  other  is  unfit  for  any  gentleman,  if  the 
subject  is  indecent  and  the  words  obscene. 

Then,  too,  certain  bounds  must  be  observed  in 
our  amusements  and  we  must  be  careful  not  to 
carry  things  too  far  and,  swept  away  by  our  passions, 
lapse  into  some  shameful  excess.  Our  Campus, 
however,  and  the  amusements  of  the  chase  are 
examples  of  wholesome  recreation. 
•5  XXX.  But  it  is  essential  to  every  inquiry  about 
duty  that  we  keep  before  our  eyes  how  far  superior 
man  is  by  nature  to  cattle  and  other  beasts:  they 
have  no  thought  except  for  sensual  pleasure  and 
this  they  are  impelled  by  every  instinct  to  seek; 
but  man's  mind  is  nurtured  by  study  and  medita- 
tion;  he  is  always  either  investigating  or  doing, 
and  he  is  captivated  by  the  pleasure  of  seeing  and 
hearing.  Nay,  even  if  a  man  is  more  than  ordinarily 
inchned  to  sensual  pleasures,  provided,  of  course,  (4)pleasure. 
that  lie  be  not  quite  on  a  level  with  the  beasts  of 
the  field  (for  some  people  are  men  only  in  name, 
not  in  fact) — if,  I  say,  he  Is  a  little  too  susceptible 

107 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
erectior,    quamvis    voluptate    capiatur,    occultat    et 
dissimulat    appetitum    voluptatis    propter   verecun- 
diam. 

106  Ex  quo  intellegitur  corporis  voluptatem  non  satis 
esse  dignam  hominis  praestantia,  eamque  contemni 
et  reici  oportere ;  sin  sit  quispiam,  qui  aliquid  tribuat 
voluptati,  diligenter  ei  tenendum  esse  eius  fruendae 
modum.  Itaque  victus  cultusque  corporis  ad  vale- 
tudinem  referatur  et  ad  vires,  non  ad  voluptatem. 
Atque  etiam  si  considerare  volumus/  quae  sit  in 
natura  excellentia  et  dignitas,  intellegemus,  quam 
sit  turpe  diffluere  luxuria  et  delicate  ac  molliter 
vivere  quamque  honestum  parce,  continenter,  severe, 
sobrie. 

107  Intellegendum  etiam  est  duabus  quasi  nos  a  na- 
tura  indutos  esse  personis;  quarum  una  communis 
est  ex  eo,  quod  omnes  participes  sumus  rationis 
praestantiaeque  eius,  qua  antecellimus  bestiis,  a  qua 
omne  honestum  decorumque  trahitur,  et  ex  qua  ratio 
inveniendi  officii  exquiritur,  altera  autem,  quae  pro- 
prie  singulis  est  tributa.  Ut  enim  in  corporibus 
magnae  dissimilitudines  sunt  (aHos  videmus  veloci- 
tate  ad  cursum,  alios  viribus  ad  luctandum  valere, 
itemque  in  formis  ahis  dignitatem  inesse,  aliis  venu- 
statem),  sic  in  animis  exsistunt  maiores  etiam  varieta- 

1 08  tcs.  Erat  in  L.  Crasso,  in  L.  PhiHppo  multus  lepos, 
maior   etiam   magisque   de  industria  in   C.   Caesare 

*  volumus  A  B'  H*  b;  volemus  B-  H-,  Bt.,  Heine;  velimus 
L ;  vellemus  c. 
108 


BOOK  I.  XXX 

to  the  attractions  of  pleasure,  he  hides  the  fact, 
however  much  he  may  be  caught  in  its  toils,  and 
for  very  shame  conceals  his  appetite. 

From  this  we  see  that  sensual  pleasure  is  quite 
unworthy  of  the  dignity  of  man  and  that  we  ought 
to  despise  it  and  cast  it  from  us;  but  if  some  one 
should  be  found  who  sets  some  value  upon  sensual 
gratification,  he  must  keep  strictly  within  the  limits 
of  moderate  indulgence.  One's  physical  comforts 
and  wants,  therefore,  should  be  ordered  according 
to  the  demands  of  health  and  strength,  not  accord- 
ing  to  the  calls  of  pleasure.  And  if  we  will  only 
bear  in  mind  the  superiority  and  dignity  of  our 
nature,  we  shall  realize  how  wi'ong  it  is  to  abandon 
ourselves  to  excess  and  to  live  in  luxury  and  vokiptu- 
ousness,  and  how  right  it  is  to  live  in  thrift,  self- 
denial,  simplicity,  and  sobriety, 

We   must  reahze  also  that  we  are  invested   by  xhe  universai 
Nature  with  two  characters,  as  it  were :  one  of  these  vufuaUature  ot 
is  universal,  arising  from  the  fact  of  our  being  all  man. 
alilvc  endowed  with  reason  and  with  that  superiority 
which    Hfts    us    above    tlie    brute.      From    this    all 
moraUty  and   propriety  are   derived,   and  upon    it 
depends  the  rational  method    of  ascertaining   our 
duty.       The    other    character  is   the    one    that   is  ludividual 
assigned  to  individuals  in  particular.     In  the  matter  ^^'^^'^'"«nts. 
of  physical  endowment  there  are  great  differences : 
some,  we  see,  excel  in  speed  for  the  race,  others  in 
strength  for  wrestling;  so  in  point  of  personnl  ap- 
pearance,  some  have  statehness,  others  comeliness. 
Diversities   of  character  are   greater   still.      Lucius 
Crassus  and  Lucius  PhiHppus  had  a  large  fund  of 
wit;  Gaius  Caesar,  Lucius's  son,  had  a  still  richer 
fund  and  employed  it  with  more  studied  purpose. 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
L.  filio;  at  isdem  temporibus  in  M.  Scauro  et  in 
M.  Druso  adulescente  singularis  severitas,  in  C. 
Laelio  multa  hilaritas,  in  eius  familiari  Scipione  am- 
bitio  maior,  vita  tristior.  De  Graecis  autem  dulcem 
et  facetum  festivique  sermonis  atque  in  omni  orati- 
one  simulatorem,  quem  etpoiva  Graeci^  nominarunt, 
Socratem  accepimus,  contra  Pythagoram  et  Periclem 
summam  auctoritatem  consecutos  sine  ulla  hilaritate. 
Callidum  Hannibalem  ex  Poenorum,  ex  nostris  duci- 
bus  Q.  Maximum  accepimus,  facile  celare,  tacere, 
dissimulare,  insidiari,  praeripere  hostium  consilia. 
In  quo  genere  Graeci  Themistoclem  et  Pheraeum 
lasonem  ceteris  anteponunt ;  in  primisque  versutum 
et  callidum  factum  Solonis,  qui,  quo  et  tutior  eius 
vita  esset  et  plus  ahquanto  rei  publicae  prodesset, 
furere  se  simulavit. 
1 09  Sunt  his  alii  multum  dispares,  simplices  et  aperti, 
qui  nihil  ex  occulto,  nihil  de  insidiis  agendum  putant, 
veritatis  cultores,  fraudis  inimici,  itemque  alii,  qui" 
quidvis  perpetiantur,  cuivis  deserviant,  dum,  quod 
velint,  consequantur,  ut  Sullam  et  M.  Crassum  vide- 
bamus.  Quo  in  genere  versutissimum  et  patientis- 
simum  Lacedaemonium  Lysandrum  accepimus,  con- 
traque  Callicratidam,  qui  praefectus  classis  proximus 
post  Lysandrum  fuit;  itemque  in  sermonibus  alium 
[quemque],  quamvis^  praepotens  sit,  efficere,  ut  unus 

'  eipuua  Graeci  Edd. ;  ironia  graeci  A  B  H  b ;  ironian  graect 
a ;  greci  mironian  c. 

'^qui  A  L  c  ;  51  B  H  a  b. 

^  aliunt  [quemque]  quamvis  Ed. ;  alium  quemque  quamvis 
MSS. ;  quemque  aliuni  quamvis  p ;  aliquem,  quamvis 
Pearce,  Bt. ;  alium  quamvis,  Facciolati,  Heine. 

MO 


BOOK  I.  XXX 

Contemporary  with  them,  Marcus  Scam-us  and 
Marcus  Drusus,  the  younger,  were  examples  of 
unusual  seriousness;  Gaius  LaeHus,  of  unbounded 
jollity;  while  his  intimate  friend,  Scipio,  cherished 
more  serious  ideals  and  lived  a  more  austere  life. 
Among  the  Greeks,  history  tells  us,  Socrates  was 
fascinating  and  witty,  a  genial  conversationalist ; 
he  was  what  the  Greeks  call  etpcov — in  every  con- 
versation,  pretending  to  need  information  and  pro- 
fessing  admiration  for  the  wisdom  of  his  companion. 
Pythagoras  and  Pericles,  on  the  other  hand,  reached 
the  heights  of  influence  and  power  without  any 
seasoning  of  mirthfulness.  We  read  that  Hannibal, 
among  the  Carthaginian  generals^  and  Quintus 
Maximus,  among  our  own,  were  shrewd  and  ready 
at  conceahng  their  plans,  covering  up  their  tracks, 
disguising  their  movements,  laying  stratagems,  fore- 
stalHng  the  enemy's  designs.  In  these  quaUties  the 
Greeks  rank  Themistocles  and  Jason  of  Pherae 
a.bove  all  others.  Especially  crafty  and  shrewd  was 
the  device  of  Solon,  who,  to  make  his  own  life  safer 
and  at  the  same  time  to  do  a  considerably  larger  ser- 
vice  for  his  country,  feigned  insanity. 

Then  there  are  others,  quite  different  from  these, 
straightforward  and  open,  who  think  that  nothing 
should  be  done  by  underhand  means  or  treachery. 
They  are  lovers  of  truth,  haters  of  fraud.  There  are 
others  still  who  will  stoop  to  anything,  truckle  to  any- 
body,  if  only  they  may  gain  their  ends.  Such,  we 
saw,  were  Sulla  and  Marcus  Crassus.  The  most  crafty 
and  most  persevering  man  of  this  type  was  Lysan- 
der  of  Sparta,  we  are  told ;  of  the  opposite  type  was 
Callicratidas,  who  succeeded  Lysander  as  admii*al  of 
the  fleet.     So  we  find  that  another,  no  matter  how 

111 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

de  multis  esse  videatur;  quod  in  Catulo,  et  in 
patre  et  in  filio,  itemque  in  Q.  Mucio  t  Mancia^ 
vidimus.  Audivi  ex  maioribus  natu  hoc  idem  fuisse 
in  P.  Scipione  Nasica,  contraque  patrem  eius,  illuni 
qui  Ti.  Gracchi  conatus  perditos  vindicavit,  nullam 
comitatem  habuisse  sermonis  [ne  Xenocratem  qui- 
dem,  severissimum  philosophorumj  ^  ob  eamque  rem 
ipsam  magnum  et  clarum  fuisse. 

Innumerabiles  aliae  dissimiHtudines  sunt  naturae 
morumque,  minime  tamen  vituperandorum. 

110  XXXI.  Admodum  autem  tenenda  sunt  sua  cuique 
non  vitiosa,  sed  tamen  propria,  quo  facilius  decorum 
illud,  quod  quaerimus,  retineatur.  Sic  enim  est 
faciendum,  ut  contra  universam  naturam  nihil  con- 
tendamus,  ea  tamen  conservata  propriam  nostram 
sequamur,  ut,  etiamsi  sint  alia  graviora  atque  mehora, 
tamen  nos  studia  nostra  nostrae  naturae  regula* 
metiamur;  neque  enim  attinet  naturae  repugnare 
nec  quicquam  sequi,  quod  assequi  non  queas.  Ex 
quo  magis  emergit,  quale  sit  decorum  illud,  ideo 
quia  nihil  decet  invita  Minerva,  ut  aiunt,  id  est 
adversante  et  repugnante  natura. 

1 1 1  Omnino  si  quicquam  est  decorum,  nihil  est  pro- 

•  et  in  patre  et  injilio  A  B  b,  Ed<l. ;  et  inpatre  et filio  H  a  ; 
et patre  et  Jilio  h  c.  itemque  Vi  H*,  Bt'.,  Muller  ;  idemqiie 
A  H'  L  abc,  Bt.'^,  Heirte.  in  O  Mucio\ Mancia  Heine,  Bt.^; 
in  q.  mucio  mantia  B  ;  in  q.  vuitio  mancia  H  L  c  ;  in  q, 
viutio  mantia  a  ;  inq^ie  mucio  mantia  b  ;  inque  mutio  mantia 
A  ;  in  q.  muntio  mantia  p  ;  in  Q.  Mucio,  Mancia  Mullcr. 

"^  ne  [nec  c)  Xenocratem  (-n  L  c)  .  .  .  philosophorum  MSS.; 
bracketed  by  Heumaiin,  Edd. 

*  studia  nostra  nostrae  naturae  rc^ula  Einesti,  Bt.,  Hejne  ; 
studia  nostra  nostra  (corr.  e.\  nostii)  regula  A ;  studia  nostrac 
regulae  B  ;  studia  nistrae  reguld  I \  ;  studia  nostra  regula  a  ; 
studia  (corr.  in  studii)  nostriregula  b ;  studia  nostra  naturae 
regula  L  c,  Nonius  ;  studia  nostrae  naturae  regula  Miiller. 

11« 


BOOK  I.  xxx-xxxi 

eminent  he  may  be,  will  condescend  in  social  inter- 
course  to  make  himself  appear  but  a  very  ordinary 
person.  Such  graciousness  of  manner  we  have  seen  m 
the  case  of  Catulus — both  father  and  son — and  also 
of  Quintus  Mucius  Mancia.  I  have  heard  from  my 
elders  that  Pubhus  Scipio  Nasica  was  another  master 
of  this  art ;  but  his  father,  on  the  other  hand — the 
man  who  punished  Tiberius  Gracchus  for  his  nefari- 
ous  undertakings — had  no  such  gracious  manner  in 
social  intercourse  [...],  and  because  of  that  very  fact 
he  rose  to  greatness  and  fame. 

Countless  other  dissimilarities  exist  in  natures  and 
charactersj  and  they  are  not  in  the  least  to  be  criti- 
cized. 

XXXI.  Everybody,  howeverj  must  resolutely  hold  Conduct  must 
fast  to  his  own  peculiar  gifts,  in  so  far  as  they  are  individuai 
peculiar  only  and  not  vicious^  in  order  that  propriety,  ®°  owments 
which  is  the  object  of  our  inquiry,  may  the  more 
easily  be  secured.  For  we  must  so  act  as  not  to 
oppose  the  universal  laws  of  human  nature,  but, 
while  safeguarding  those^  to  follow  the  bent  of  our 
own  particular  nature;  and  even  if  other  careers 
should  be  better  and  nobler,  we  may  still  regulate 
our  own  pursuits  by  the  standard  of  our  own  nature. 
For  it  is  of  no  avail  to  fight  against  one's  nature  or  to 
aim  at  what  is  impossible  of  attainment.  From  this 
fact  the  nature  of  that  propriety  defined  above  comes 
into  still  clearer  light,  inasmuch  as  nothing  is  proper 
that  goes  against  the  grain,"  as  the  saying  is — 
that  is,  if  it  is  in  direct  opposition  to  one's  natural 
genius. 

If  there  is  any  such   thing  as  propriety  at  all, 
I  113 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

fecto  magis  quam  aequabilitas  cuvi^  universae  vitae, 
tum  singularum  actionum,  quam  conservare  non 
possiSj  si  aliorum  naturam  imitans  omittas  tuam. 
Ut  enim  sermone  eo  debemus  uti,  qui  innatus^  est 
nobiSj  ne,  ut  quidam,  Graeca  verba  inculcantes  iure 
optimo  rideamur,  sic  in  actiones  omnemque  vitam 

112  nullam  discrepantiam  conferre  debemus.  Atque 
haec  differentia  naturarum  tantam  habet  vim,  ut  non 
numquam  mortem  sibi  ipse  consciscere  alius  debeat, 
alius  [in  eadem  causa]  non  debeat.^  Num  enim  alia 
in  causa  M.  Cato  fuit,  alia  ceteri,  qui  se  in  Africa 
Caesari  tradiderunt?  Atqui  ceteris  forsitan  vitio 
datum  esset,  si  se  interemissent,  propterea  quod 
lenior  eorum  vita  et  mores  fuerant  faciliores,  Catoni 
cum  incredibilem  tribuisset  natura  gravitatem  eam- 
que  ipse  perpetua  constantia  roboravisset  semperquc 
in  proposito  susceptoque  consilio  permansisset,  mo- 
riendum  potius  quam  tyranni  vultus  aspiciendus  fuit. 

113  Quam  multa  passus  est  Ulixes  in  illo  errore 
diuturno,  cum  et  mulieribus,  si  Circe  et  Calypso 
mulieres  appellandae  sunt,  inserviret  et  in  omni 
sermone  omnibus  afFabilem  [et  iucundum]*  esse 
se  vellet!  domi  vero  etiam  contumelias  servorum 
ancillarumque  pertulit,  ut  ad  id  aliquando,  quod 
cupiebat,  veniret.  At  Aiax,  quo  animo  traditur, 
milies  oppetere  mortem  quam  illa  perpeti  maluisset. 

Quae   contemplantes   expendere   oportebit,  quid 

^  cum  Lambiniis,  Edd.;  not  in  MSS. 
*innattis  Bt.,  Edd. ;  notus  MSS. 

'  alius  in  eadem  causa  non  deheat  L  c  p,  MuUer,  Heine  ; 
not  in  A  B  H  b  ;  alixis  non  debeat  a  ;  alius  [in  eadem  causa] 
non  debeat  Bt.,  Ed. 

*  et  iocundum  L  c  p ;  not  in  A  B  H  a  b ;  [^/  iucundum] 
Bt..Ed. 

114 


BOOK  I.  xxxi 

it  can  be  nothing  more  than  uniform  consistency 

in  the  course  of  our  life  as  a  whole  and  all  its  indi- 

vidual  actions.     And  this  uniform  consistency  one 

could  not  maintain  by  copying  the  personal  traits  of 

others  and  eHminating  one's  own.     Por  as  we  ought 

to  employ  our  mother-tongue,  lest^  Hke  certain  peo- 

ple  who  are  continually  dragging  in  Greek  words, 

we  draw  well  deserved  ridicule  upon  ourselves,  so  we 

ought  not   to  introduce  anything  foreign  into  our 

actions  or  our  hfe  in  general.     Indeed,  such  diver-  Thesame 

sity  of  cliaracter  carries  witli  it  so  great  significance  Hgh? fJr  oni^' 

that  suicide  may  be  for  one  man  a  duty,  for  another  wrongfor 

r,,  .  -\  -r^-,  another. 

[under  tne  same  circumstancesj  a  cnme.  Did 
Marcus  Cato  find  himself  in  one  predicament,  and 
were  the  others,  who  surrendered  to  Caesar  in 
Africa,  in  another?  And  yet,  perhaps,  they  would 
have  been  condemned,  if  they  had  taken  their  lives ; 
for  their  mode  of  Hfe  had  been  less  austere  and 
their  characters  more  phable.  But  Cato  had  been 
endowed  by  nature  with  an  austerity  beyond  belief, 
and  he  himself  had  strengthened  it  by  unswerving 
consistency  and  had  remained  ever  true  to  his  pur- 
pose  and  fixed  resolve;  and  it  was  for  him  to  die 
rather  than  to  look  upon  the  face  of  a  tyrant. 

How  much  Ulysses  endured  on  those  long 
wanderings^  when  he  submitted  to  the  service 
even  of  women  (if  Circe  and  Calypso  may  be  called 
women)  and  strove  in  every  word  to  be  courteous 
and  complaisant  to  all!  And  arrived  at  home,  he 
brooked  even  the  insults  of  his  men-servants  and  maid- 
servants,  in  order  to  attain  in  the  end  the  object  of 
his  desire.  But  Ajax,  with  the  temper  he  is  repre- 
sented  as  having,  would  have  chosen  to  meet  death 
a  thousand  times  rather  than  sufFer  such  indignities ! 

If  we  take  this  into  consideration,  we  shall  see 
I2  115 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quisque  habeat  sui,  eaque  moderari  nec  velle  ex- 
periri,  quam  se  aliena  deceant;  id  enim  maxime 
quemque  decet,  quod  est  cuiusque  maxime  suum. 

114  Suum}  quisque  igitur  noscat  ingenium  acremque 
se  et  bonorum  et  vitiorum  suorum  iudicem  prae- 
beat,  ne  scaenici  plus  quam  nos  videantur  habere 
prudentiae.  Illi  enim  non  optimas,  sed  sibi  ac- 
commodatissimas  fabulas  eligunt;  qui  voce  freti 
sunt,  Epigonos  Medumque,  qui  gestu,  Melanippam, 
Clytemnestram,  semper  Rupilius,  quem  ego  memini, 
Antiopam,  non  saepe  Aesopus  Aiacem.  Ergo  histrio 
hoc  videbit  in  scaena,  non  videbit  sapiens  vir  in 
vita? 

Ad  quas  igitur  res  aptissimi  erimus,  in  iis  potissi- 
mum  elaborabimus ;  sin  aliquando  necessitas  nos  ad 
ea  detruserit,  quae  nostri  ingenii  non  erunt,  omnis 
adhibenda  erit  cura,  meditatio,  diligentia,  ut  ea  si 
non  decore,  at  quam  minime  indecoi-e  facere  possi- 
mus;  nec  tam^  est  enitendum,  ut  bona,  quae  nobis 
data  non  sint,  sequamur,  quam  ut  vitia  fugiamus. 

115  XXXII.  Ac  duabus  iis  personis,  quas  supra  dixi, 
tertia  adiungitur,  quam  casus  aliqui  aut  tempus 
imponit;  quarta  etiam,  quam  nobismet  ipsi  iudicio 
nostro  accommodamus.  Nam  regna,  imperia,  nobi- 
litas,  honores,  divitiae,'  opes  eaque,  quae  sunt  his 
contraria,  in  casu  sita  temporibus  gubemantur;  ipsi 

'  Suum  Orelli ;  not  in  MSS. ;  but  p  has  ingenium  suum. 
'  tam  L  c,  Edd. ;  tam  (i.e.  tamen)  A  B  H  b. 
^nobilitas,  A.,  divitiae  Ung-er;  nobilitatem,  h,,  divitias 
MSS.  

«•  The  universal  and  the  individual;  §  107. 
116 


BOOK  I.  xxxi-xxxii 

that  it  is  each  man's  duty  to  weigh  well  what  are  Let  every  one 
his  own  peculiar  traits  of  character^  to  regulate  these  character. 
properly^  and  not  to  wish  to  try  how  another  man's 
would  suit  him.     For  the  more  pecuharly  his  own 
a  man's  character  is,  the  better  it  fits  him. 

Every  one,  thereforCj  should  make  a  proper 
estimate  of  his  own  natural  abihty  and  show  him- 
self  a  critical  judge  of  his  own  merits  and  defects; 
in  this  respect  we  should  not  let  actors  display 
more  practical  wisdom  than  we  have.  They  select, 
not  the  best  plays,  but  the  ones  best  suited  to  their 
talents.  Those  who  rely  most  upon  the  quahty  of 
their  voice  take  the  Epigoni  and  the  Medus ;  those 
who  place  more  stress  upon  the  action,  choose  the 
Melanippa  and  the  Cly taemnestra ;  Rupihus,  whom 
I  remember,  always  played  in  the  Antiope,  Aesopus 
rarely  in  the  Ajax.  Shall  a  player  have  regard  to 
this  in  choosing  his  role  upon  the  stage,  and  a  wise 
man  fail  to  do  so  in  selecting  his  part  in  hfe  ? 

We  shall,  therefore,  work  to  the  best  advantage 
in  that  role  to  which  we  are  best  adapted.  But 
if  at  some  time  stress  of  circumstances  shall  thrust 
us  aside  into  some  uncongenial  part,  we  raust  devote 
to  it  all  possible  thought,  practice,  and  pains,  that 
we  may  be  able  to  perform  it,  if  not  with  propriety, 
at  least  with  as  httle  impropriety  as  possible;  and 
we  need  not  strive  so  hard  to  attain  to  points  of 
excellence  that  liave  not  been  vouchsafed  to  us  as 
to  correct  the  faults  we  have. 

XXXII.  To  the  two  above-mentioned  characters' 
is  added  a  third,  which  some  chance  or  some  cir- 
cumstance  imposes,  and  a  fourth  also,  which  we 
assume  by  our  own  dehberate  choice.  Regal  powers 
and  mihtavy  commands,  nobihty  of  birth  and  political 
office,   wealth   and   influence,   and   their   opposites 

117 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

autem  gerere  quam  personam  velimus,  a  nostra 
voluntate  proficiscitur.  Itaque  se  alii  ad  philoso- 
phiam,  ahi  ad  ius  civile,  alii  ad  eloquentiam  apphcant, 
ipsarumque  virtutum  in  aha  ahus  mavult  excellere. 

116  Quorum  vero  patres  aut  maiores  ahqua  gloria 
praestiterunt,  ii  student  plerumque  eodem  in  genere 
laudis  excellere,  ut  Q.  Mucius  P.  f.  in  iure  civih, 
Pauli  fihus  Africanus  in  re  mihtari.  Quidam  autem 
ad  eas  laudes,  quas  a  patribus  acceperunt,  addunt 
ahquam  suam,  ut  hic  idem  Africanus  eloquentia 
cumulavit  belhcam  gloriam;  quod  idem  fecit  Timo- 
theus  Cononis  fihus,  qui  cum  belh  laude  non  inferior 
fuisset  quam  pater,  ad  eam  laudem  doctrinae  et 
ingenii  gloriam  adiecit.  Fit  autem  interdum,  ut 
non  nulli  omissa  imitatione  maiorum  suum  quoddam 
institutum  consequantur,  maximeque  in  eo  plerum- 
que  elaborant  ii,^  qui  magna  sibi  proponunt  obscuris 
orti  maioribus. 

117  Haec  igitur  omnia,  cum  quaerimus,  quid  deeeat, 
complecti  animo  et  cogitatione  debemus;  in  primis 
autem  constituendum  est,  quos  nos  et  qualcs  esse 
vehmus  et  in  quo  genere  vitae,  quae  dehberatio  est 
omnium  difficillima.  Ineunte  enim  adulescentia, 
cum  est  maxima  imbecilhtas  consilii,  tum  id  sibi 
quisque  genus  aetatis  degendae  constituit,  quod 
maxime   adamavit;    itaque    ante    imphcatur   ahquo 

^  ti  Edd. ;  hii  A  H  b  ;  hij  c  ;  hi  B  a. 
118 


BOOK  I.  xxxii 

depeiid  upon  chance  and  are,  thereforej  controlled 

by  circumstances.     But  what  role  we  ourselves  may  Seiection  of  & 

choose  to  sustain  is  decided  by  our  own  free  choice.  '^^^^^^- 

And  so  some  turn  to  philosophy,  others  to  the  civil 

law,  and  still  othei-s  to  oratory,  while  in  case  of  the 

virtues  themselves  one  man  prefers  to  excel  in  one, 

another  in  another. 

They,  whose  fathers  or  forefathers  have  achieved  (D  inheritance, 
distinction  in  some  particular  field,  often  strive  to 
attain  eminence  in  the  same  department  of  service : 
for  example,  Quintus^  the  son  of  Publius  Mucius,  in 
the  law ;  Africanus,  the  son  of  Paulus,  in  the  army. 
And  to  that  distinction  which  they  have  severally 
inherited  from  their  fathers  some  have  added  lustre 
of  their  own ;  for  example,  that  same  Africanus^  who 
crowned  his  inherited  miUtary  glory  with  his  own 
eloquence.  Timotheus,  Conon's  son^  did  the  same : 
he  proved  himself  not  inferior  to  his  father  in  railitary 
renown  and  added  to  that  distinction  the  glory  of 
culture  and  intellectual  power.  It  happens  some-  (2)  choice 
times,  too,  that  a  man  declines  to  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  fathers  and  pursues  a  vocation  of 
his  own.  And  in  such  callings  those  very  frequently 
achieve  signal  success  who,  though  sprung  from 
humble  parentage,  have  set  their  aims  high. 

All  these  questions,  therefore,  we  ought  to  bear 
thoughtfully  in  mind,  when  we  inquire  into  the 
nature  of  propriety ;  but  above  all  we  must  decide 
who  and  what  manner  of  men  we  wish  to  be  and 
what  calUng  in  Ufe  we  would  follow;  and  this  is  the 
most  difficult  problem  in  the  world.  For  it  is  in  the 
years  of  early  youth,  when  our  judgment  is  most 
immature,  that  each  of  us  decides  that  his  caUing  in 
Ufe  shaU  be  that  to  which  he  has  taken  a  special 
Uking.     And   thus   he   becomes  engaged  in  some 

119 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

certo  genere  cursuque  vivendi,  quam  potuit,  quod 
optimum  esset,  iudicare. 

Nam  quod^  Herculem  Prodicus^  dicit,  ut  est 
apud  Xenophontemj  cum  primum  pubesceret,  quod 
tempus  a  natura  ad  deligendum,  quam  quisque  viam 
vivendi  sit  ingressurus,  datum  est,  exisse  in  solitu- 
dinem  atque  ibi  sedentem  diu  secum  multumque 
dubitasse,  cum  duas  cerneret  vias,  unam  Voluptatis, 
alteram  Virtutis,  utram  ingredi  melius  esset,  hoc 
Hercuh  lovis  satu  edito"  potuit  fortasse  contingere, 
nobis  non  item,^  qui  imitamur,  quos  cuique  visum 
est,  atque  ad  eorum  studia  institutaque  impelhmur ; 
plerumque  autem  parentium  praeceptis  imbuti  ad 
eorum  consuetudinem  moremque  deducimur ;  ahi 
multitudinis  iudicio  feruntur,  quaeque  maiori  parti 
pulcherrima  videntur,  ea  maxime  exoptant;  non 
nulh  tamen  sive  fehcitate  quadam  sive  bonitate 
naturae  sine*  parentium  disciphna  rectam  vitae 
secuti  sunt  viam. 
119  XXXIII.  Illud  autem  maxime  rarum  genus  est 
eorum,  qui  aut  excellenti^  ingenii  magnitudine  aut 
praeclara  eruditione  atque  doctrina  aut  utraque  re 
ornati  spatium  etiam  dehberandi  habuerunt,  quem 
potissimum  vitae  cursum  sequi  vehent;  in  qua  deh- 
beratione  ad  suam  cuiusque  naturam  consihum  est 
omne  revocandum.  Nam  cum  in  omnibus,  quae 
aguntur,  ex  eo,  quo  modo  quisque  natus  est^  ut  su- 
pra  dictum  est,  quid  deceat,  exquirimus,  tum  in  tota 

'  Nam  quod  L  c,  Edd. ;  namque  A  B  H  a  b. 

*  Prodicus  Manutius,  YAi^.^prodigus  L  c  ',prodigvm  B  H  b. 
'  item  Edd. ;  idem  MSS. 

*sine  Stuerenburg-,  Edd.  plerique  ;  sive  MSS.,  Bt.^ 

*  excellenti  L  c  ;  excellente  A  B  H  a  b  ;  excellentis  p. 

120 


BOOK  I.  xxxii-xxxiii 

particular  calling  and  career  in  lifej  before  he  is  fit 
to  decide  intelligently  what  is  best  for  him. 

For  we  cannot  all  have  the  experience  of  Hercules^  Hercules  at  the 
as  we  find  it  in  the  words  of  Prodicus  in  Xenophon  :  1%^^  °^  ^^^ 

When  Hercules  was  just  coming  into  youth's 
estate  (the  time  which  Nature  has  appointed  unto 
every  man  for  choosing  the  path  of  life  on  which 
he  would  enter),  he  went  out  into  a  desert  place. 
And  as  he  saw  two  paths,  the  path  of  Pleasure  and 
the  path  of  Virtue,  he  sat  down  and  debated  long 
and  earnestly  which  one  it  were  better  for  him  to 
take."    This  might,  perhaps^  happen  to  a  Hercules, 

scion  of  the  seed  of  Jove" ;  but  it  cannot  well  hap- 
pen  to  us ;  for  we  copy,  each  the  model  he  fancies, 
and  we  are  constrained  to  adopt  their  pursuits  and 
vocations.  But  usually,  we  are  so  imbued  with  the 
teachings  of  our  parents,  that  we  fall  irresistibly  into 
their  manners  and  customs.  Others  drift  with  (3)  accident, 
the  current  of  popular  opinion  and  make  especial 
choice  of  those  calHngs  which  the  majority  find  most 
attractive.  Some,  however^  as  the  result  either  of 
some  happy  fortune  or  of  natural  abiUty,  enter  upon 
the  right  path  of  hfej  without  parental  guidance. 

XXXIII.  There  is  one  class  of  people  that  is  very 
rarely  met  with:  it  is  composed  of  those  who  are 
endowed  with  marked  natural  abihty^  or  exceptional 
advantages  of  education  and  culture,  or  both,  and 
who  also  have  time  to  consider  carefully  what  career 
in  life  they  prefer  to  follow ;  and  in  this  deliberation 
the  decision  must  turn  wholly  upon  eachindividuars 
natural  bent.  For  we  try  to  find  out  from  each  one's  W  naturai  bias. 
native  disposition,  as  was  said  above,  just  what  is 
proper  for  him ;  and  this  we  require  not  only  in  case 
of  each  individual  act  but  also  in  ordering  the  whole 
course  of  one's  life ;   and  this  last  is  a  matter  to 

121 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

vita  constituenda  multo  est  ei  rei  ^  cura  maior  adhi- 
benda,  ut  constare  in  perpetuitate  vitae  possimus 
nobismet  ipsis  nec  in  ullo  officio  claudicare. 

120  Ad  hanc  autem  rationem  quoniam  maximam  vim 
natura  habet,  fortuna  proximam,  utriusque  omnino 
habenda  ratio  est  in  deligendo  genere  vitae,  sed 
naturae  magis;  multo  enim  et  firmior  est  et  con- 
stantior,  ut  fortuna  non  numquam  tamquam  ipsa 
mortalis  cum  immortali  natura  pugnare  videatur. 
Qui  igitur  ad  naturae  suae  non  vitiosae  genus  consi- 
lium  vivendi  omne  contulerit,  is  constantiam  teneat 
(id  enim  maxime  decet),  nisi  forte  se  intellexerit 
errasse  in  dehgendo  genere  vitae.  Quod  si  acciderit 
(potest  autem  accidere),  facienda  morum  instituto- 
rumque  mutatio  est.  Eam  mutationem  si  tempora 
adiuvabunt,  facilius  commodiusque  faciemus ;  sin 
minus,  sensim  erit  pedetemptimque  facienda,  ut 
amicitias,  quae  minus  delectent  et  minus  probentur, 
magis  decere  censent  sapientes  sensim  diluere  quam 

121  repente  praecidere.  Commutato  autem  genere  vitae 
omni  ratione  curandum  est,  ut  id  bono  consilio  fe- 
cisse  videamur. 

Sed  quoniam  paulo  ante  dictum  est  imitandos 
esse  maiores,  primum  illud  exceptum  sit,  ne  vitia 
sint  imitanda,  deinde  si  natura  non  feret,  ut  quae- 
dam  imitari  possit^  (ut  superioris  filius  Africani,  qui 
hunc  Paulo  natum  adoptavit,  propter  infirmitatem 

*  est  ei  rei  Gruter,  Edd. ;  est  eius  rei  L  c  p ;  «^  rei  A  B  H 
b ;  est  ei  a. 
^possit].  M.  Heusinger,  Edd. ; /oss/n^  MSS. 

122 


BOOK  I.  xxxiii 

which  still  greater  care  must  be  given^  in  order 
that  we  may  be  true  to  ourselves  throughout  all  our 
Hves  and  not  falter  in  the  discharge  of  any  duty. 

But  since  the  most  powerful  influence  in  the 
choice  of  a  career  is  exerted  by  Nature,  and  the  next 
most  powerful  by  Fortune,  we  must,  of  course,  take 
account  of  them  both  in  deciding  upon  our  calUng 
inlife;  but  of  the  two,  Nature  claims  the  more  atten- 
tion.  For  Nature  is  so  much  more  stable  and 
steadfast,  that  for  Fortune  to  come  into  conflict  with 
Natui*e  seems  Uke  a  combat  between  a  mortal  and  a 
goddess.  If,  therefore,  anyone  has  conformed  his 
Avhole  plan  of  hfe  to  the  kind  of  nature  that  is  his 
(that  is,  his  better  nature),  let  him  go  on  with  it 
consistently — for  that  is  the  essence  of  Propriety — 
unless,  perchance,  he  should  discover  that  he  has 
made  a  mistake  in  choosing  his  Hfe  work,  If  this  Chanpe  of 
should  happen  (and  it  can  easily  happen),  he  must  ^°*^*  '°°' 
changehis  vocation  and  mode  of  life.  If  circumstances 
favour  such  change,  it  will  be  effected  with  greater 
ease  and  convenience.  If  not,  it  must  be  made  grad- 
ually,  step  by  step,  just  as,  when  friendships  become 
no  longer  pleasing  or  desirable,  it  is  moi'e  proper 
(so  wise  men  think)  to  undo  the  bond  little  by  little 
than  to  sever  it  at  a  stroke.  And  when  we  have 
once  changed  our  calling  in  life,  we  must  take  all 
possible  care  to  make  it  clear  that  we  have  done  so 
with  good  reason. 

But  whereas  I  said  a  moment  ago  that  we  have  to 
follow  in  the  steps  of  our  fathers,  let  me  make  the 
following  exceptions:  first,  we  need  not  imitate 
their  faults ;  second,  we  need  not  imitate  certain 
other  things,  if  our  nature  does  not  permit  such 
imitation;  for  example,  the  son  of  the  elder  Africa- 
nus  (that  Scipio  who  adopted  the  younger  Africanus, 

123 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

valetudinis  non  tam  potuit  patris  similis  esse^  quam 
ille  fuerat  sui) ;  si  igitur  non  poterit  sive  causas  de- 
fensitare  sive  populum  contionibus  tenere  sive  bella 
gerere^  illa  tamen  praestare  debebit^  quae  erunt  in 
ipsius  potestate,  iustitiam,  fidem,  liberalitatem,  mo- 
destiamj  temperantiam,  quo  minus  ab  eo  id,  quod 
desit,  requiratur.  Optima  autem  hereditas  a  patri- 
bus  traditur  liberis  omnique  patrimonio  praestantior 
gloria  virtutis  rerumque  gestarum,  cui  dedecori  esse 
nefas  [et  vitiumj  ^  iudicandum  est. 

122  XXXIV.  Et  quoniam  officia  non  eadem  disparibus 
aetatibus  tribuuntur  aliaque  sunt  iuvenum,  alia  seni- 
orum,  aliquid  etiam  de  hac  distinctione  dicendum 
est. 

Est  igitur  adulescentis  maiores  natu  vei'eri  exque 
iis  deligere  optimos  et  probatissimos,  quorum  consilio 
atque  auctoritate  nitatur;  ineuntis  enim  aetatis  in- 
scitia  senum  constituenda  et  regenda  prudentia  est. 
Maxime  autem  haec  aetas  a  Hbidinibus  arcenda  est 
exercendaque  in  labore  patientiaque  et  animi  et 
corporis,  ut  eorum  et  in  belHcis  st  in  civihbus  officiis 
vigeat  industria.  Atque  etiam  cum  relaxare  animos 
et  dare  se  iucunditati  volent,  caveant  intemperan- 
tiam,  meminerint  verecundiae,  quod  erit  faciUus,  si 
ne  in  eius  modi  quidem  rebus  maiores  natu  nolent^ 
interesse. 

123  Senibus  autem  labores  corporis  minuendi,  exerci- 

'  ei  (sed  b)  vUium  A  B  H  a  b  ;  [^^  vitiutn]  Bt.^,  Ed. ;  et  vici- 
um  c;  et  impium  L  p,  Bt.^,  Heine. 

"^sl  7ie  in  .  .  .  nolent  Stuerenburg-,  Edd. ;  si  in  .  .  .  nolinl 
A  B  H  a  b  ;  «  /»  .  .  .  volent  L  c  ;  ^»  in  .  .     non  nolint  Lam- 
binus. 
124 


BOOK  I.  xxxiii-xxxiv 

the  son  of  Paulus)  could  not  on  account  of  ill-health 
be  so  much  like  his  father  as  Africanus  had  been 
Hke  his.  If;,  then,  a  man  is  unable  to  conduct  cases 
at  the  bar  or  to  hold  the  people  spell-bound  with 
his  eloquence  or  to  conduct  wars,  still  it  will  be  his 
duty  to  practise  these  other  virtues^  which  are  within 
his  reach — ^justice,  good  faith,  generosity,  temper- 
ance,  self-control — that  his  deficiencies  in  other  re- 
spects  may  be  less  conspicuous.  The  noblest  heritage, 
however^thatishandeddown  from  fathers  to  children, 
and  one  more  precious  than  any  inherited  wealth,  is 
a  reputation  for  virtue  and  worthy  deeds ;  and  to  dis- 
honour  this  must  be  branded  as  a  sin  and  a  shame. 

XXXIV.  Since,  too,  the  duties  that  properly  be- 
long  to  difFerent  times  of  Hfe  are  not  the  same,  but 
some  belong  to  the  young,  others  to  those  more 
advanced  in  years,  a  word  must  be  said  on  this  dis- 
tinction  also. 

It  is,  then,  the  duty  of  a  young  man  to  show  defer-  Duties  of 
ence  to  his  elders  and  to  attach  himself  to  the  best^  ^)  ^°^^^' 
and  most  approved  of  them,  so  as  to  receive  the  benefit 
of  their  counsel  and  influence.  For  the  inexperi- 
ence  of  youth  requires  the  practical  wisdom  of  age 
to  strengthen  and  direct  it.  And  this  time  of  life 
is  above  all  to  be  protected  against  sensuahty  and 
trained  to  toil  and  endurance  of  both  mind  and 
body,  so  as  to  be  strong  for  active  duty  in  miHtary 
and  civil  service.  And  even  when  they  wish  to  relax 
their  minds  and  give  themselves  up  to  enjoyment 
they  should  beware  of  excesses  and  bear  in  mind 
the  rules  of  modesty.  And  this  will  be  easier,  if 
the  young  are  not  unwiUing  to  have  their  elders  join 
them  even  in  their  pleasures. 

The  old,  on  the  other  hand,  should,  it  seems,  have  (2)  age, 
their  physical  labours  reduced ;  their  mental  activi- 

125 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

tationes  animi  etiam  augendae  videntur ;  danda  vero 
opera^  ut  et  amicos  et  iuventutem  et  maxime  rem 
publicam  consilio  et  prudentia  quam  plurimum  adiu- 
vent.  Nihil  autem  magis  cavendum  est  senectuti, 
quam  ne  languori  se  desidiaeque  dedat ;  luxuria  vero 
cum  omni  aetati  turpis,  tum  senectuti  foedissima  est ; 
sin  autem  etiam  libidinum  intemperantia  accessit, 
duplex  malum  est,  quod  et  ipsa  senectus  dedecus 
concipit  et  facit  adulescentium  impudentiorem  in- 
temperantiam. 

1 24  Ac  ne  illud  quidem  alienum  est,  de  magistratuum, 
de  privatorum,  [de  civiumj^  de  peregrinorum  officiis 
dicere. 

Est  igitur  proprium  munus  magistratus  intellegere 
se  gerere  personam  civitatis  debereque  eius  dignita- 
tem  et  decus  sustinere,  servare  leges,  iura  discribere,^ 
ea  fidei  suae  commissa  meminisse. 

Privatum  autem  oportet  aequo  et  pari  cum  civibus 
iure  vivere  neque  summissum  et  abiectum  neque  se 
efFerentem,^  tum  in  re  publica  ea  velle,  quae  tran- 
quilla  et  honesta  sint ;  talem  enim  solemus  et  sentire 
bonum  civem  et  dicere. 

125  Peregrini  autem  atque  incolae  officium  est  nihil 
praeter  suum  negotium  agere,  nihil  de  alio  anquirere 
minimeque  esse  in  aliena  re  publica  curiosum. 

Ita  fere  officia  reperientur,  cum  quaeretur,  quid 
deceat,    et   quid   aptum   sit    personis,    temporibus, 

^de  ctvium  MSS. ;  \cle  ctvium]  Hieron.,  Wolff,  Edd. 
^  discribere  Bt. ,  Ed.,  Heine;  describere  MSS. 
^ efferentem  A  H'  L  a  b  c;  ecferentem  B  H^,  Ed. 

126 


BOOK  I.  xxxiv 

ties  should  be  actually  increased.  They  should 
endeavour,  too,  by  means  of  their  counsel  and  prac- 
tical  wisdom  to  be  of  as  much  service  as  possible  to 
their  friends  and  to  the  young,  and  above  all  to  the 
state.  But  there  is  nothing  against  which  old  age 
has  to  be  more  on  its  guard  than  against  surrender- 
ing  to  feebleness  and  idleness,  while  luxury,  a  vice 
in  any  time  of  Ufe,  is  in  old  age  especially  scandalous. 
But  if  excess  in  sensual  indulgence  is  added  to 
luxurious  living,  it  is  a  twofold  evil;  for  old  age  not 
only  disgraces  itself;  it  also  serves  to  make  the 
excesses  of  the   young  more  shameless. 

At  this  point  it  is  not  at  all  irrelevant  to  discuss 
the  duties  of  magistrates,  of  private  individuals,  [of 
native  citizensj  and  of  foreigners. 

It  iSj  then,  peculiarly  the  place  of  a  magistrate  to  (3)  magistrates, 
bear  in  mind  that  he  represents  the  state  and  that 
it  is  his  duty  to  uphold  its  honour  and  its  dignity,  to 
enforce  the  law,  to  dispense  to  all  their  constitutional 
rights,  and  to  remember  that  all  this  has  been  com- 
mitted  to  him  as  a  sacred  trust. 

The  private  individual  ought  first,  in  private  rela-  (4)  private 
tions,  to  live  on  fair  and  equal  terms  with  his  fellow- 
citizens,  with  a  spirit  neither  servile  and  grovelling 
nor  yet  domineering;  and  second,  in  matters  per- 
taining  to  the  state,  to  labour  for  her  peace  and 
honour;  for  such  a  man  we  are  accustomed  to 
esteem  and  call  a  good  citizen. 

As  for  the  foreigner  or  the  resident  alien,  it  is  his  (5)  aiiens, 
duty  to  attend  strictly  to  his  own  concerns,  not  to  pry 
into  other  people's  business,  and  under  no  condition 
to  meddle  in  the  politics  of  a  country  not  his  own. 

In  this  way  I  think  we  shall  have  a  fairly  clear  puty  and 
view  of  our  duties  when  the  question  arises  what  is  Prop"ety 
proper  and  what  is  appropriate  to  each  character, 

127 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
aetatibus,     Nihil  est  autem,  quod  tam  deceat,  quam 
in  omni   re  gerenda   consilioque  capiendo   servare 
constantiam. 

126  XXXV.  Sed  quoniam  decorum  illud  in  omnibus 
factis,  dictis,  in  corporis  denique  motu  et  statu  cer- 
nitur  idque  positum  est  in  tribus  rebus,  formositate, 
ordine,  ornatu  ad  actionem  apto,  difficilibus  ad  elo- 
quendumj  sed  satis  erit  intellegi,  in  his  autem  tribus 
continetur  cura  etiam  illa^  ut  probemur  iis,  quibus- 
cum  apud  quosque  vivamus,  his  quoque  de  rebus 
pauca  dicantur. 

Principio  corporis  nostri  magnam  natura  ipsa 
videtur  habuisse  rationem,  quae  formam  nostram 
reliquamque  figuramj  in  qua  esset  species  honesta, 
eam  posuit  in  promptu,  quae  partes  autem  corporis 
ad  naturae  necessitatem  datae  aspectum  essent  defor- 
mem  habiturae  atque  foedum/  eas  contexit  atque 

127  abdidit.  Hanc  naturae  tam  dihgentem  fabricam 
imitata  est  hominum  verecundia.  Quae  enim  natura 
occultavit,  eadem  omnes,  qui  sana  mente  sunt,  re- 
movent  ab  ocuHs  ipsique  necessitati  dant  operam  ut 
quam  occultissime  pareant ;  quarumque  partium  cor- 
poris  usus  sunt  necessarii,  eas  neque  partes  neque 
earum  usus  suis  nominibus  appellant;  quodqiie 
facere  turpe  non  est,*  modo  occulte,  id  dicere  obsc(  - 
num  est.  Itaque  nec  actio  rerum  illarum  aperta 
petulantia  vacat  nec  orationis  obscenitas. 

^foedum  Klotz,  MuUer,  Heine  •,formam  A  B  H  a  b  ;  turpem 
L  c,  Bt. 

'Hurpe  non  est  a,  Edd. ;  non  turpe  est  L  ;  non  turpe  (om.  est) 
c  ;  turpe  non  turpe  ^5^  A  B  H  b  (the  first  turpe  crossed  out 
in  A  B). 
128 


BOOK  I.  xxxiv-xxxv 

circumstance,  and  age.  But  there  is  nothing  so 
essentially  proper  as  to  maintain  consistency  in  the 
performance  of  every  act  and  in  the  conception  of 
every  plan. 

XXXV.  But  the  propriety  to  which  I  refer  shows  Propnety  in 
itself  also  in  every  deed,  in  every  word,  even  in  every  °  '  ^'  ^*^''""' 
movement  and  attitude  of  the  body,  And  in  out- 
ward,  visible  propriety  there  are  three  elements — 
beauty,  tact,  and  taste ;  these  conceptions  are  difficult 
to  express  in  words,  but  it  will  be  enough  for  my 
purpose  if  they  are  understood.  In  these  three 
elements  is  included  also  our  concern  for  the  good 
opinion  of  those  with  whom  and  amongst  whom  we 
live.  For  these  reasons  I  should  Hke  to  say  a  few 
words  about  this  kind  of  propriety  also. 

First  of  all,  Nature  seems  to  have  had  a  wonderful 
plan  in  the  construction  of  our  bodies.  Our  face  and 
our  figure  generally,  in  so  far  as  it  has  a  comely 
appearance,  she  has  placed  in  sight;  but  the  parts 
of  the  body  that  are  given  us  only  to  serve  the 
needs  of  nature  and  that  would  present  an  unsightly 
and  unpleasant  appearance  she  has  covered  up  and 
concealed  from  view.  Man's  modesty  has  followed  Modesty 
this  careful  contrivance  of  Nature's ;  all  right-minded 
people  keep  out  of  sight  what  Nature  has  hidden 
and  take  pains  to  respond  to  nature's  demands  as 
privately  as  possible ;  and  in  the  case  of  those  parts 
of  the  body  which  only  serve  nature's  needs,  neither 
the  parts  nor  the  functions  are  called  by  their  real 
names.  To  perform  these  functions — if  only  it  be 
done  in  private — is  nothing  immoral ;  but  to  speak 
of  them  is  indecent.  And  so  neither  pubHc  per- 
formance  of  those  acts  nor  vulgar  mention  of  them 
is  free  from  indecency, 

K  129 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

128  Nec  vero  audiendi  sunt  Cynicij  aut  si  qui  fuerunt 
Stoici  paene  Cynici^  qui  reprehendunt  et  irrident, 
quod  ea^  quae  turpia^  non  sint,  verbis  flagitiosa  duca- 
mus,  illa  autem,  quae  turpia^  sint,  nominibus  appel- 
lemus  suis.  Latrocinai*i,  fraudare,  adulterare  re^ 
turpe  est,  sed  dicitur  non  obscene ;  liberis  dare  ope- 
ram  re  honestum  est,  nomine  obscenum;  pluraque 
in  eam  sententiam  ab  eisdem  contra  verecundiam 
disputantur.  Nos  autem  naturam  sequamur  et  ab 
omni,  quod  abhorret  ab  oculorum  auriumque  appro- 
batione,  fugiamus;  status  incessus,  sessio  accubitio, 
vultus  oculi  manuum  motus  teneat  illud  decorum. 

129  Quibus  in  rebus  duo  maxime  sunt  fugienda,  ne 
quid  effeminatum  aut  molle  et  ne  quid  durum  aui 
rusticum  sit.  Nec  vero  histrionibus  oratoribusque 
concedendum  est,  ut  iis  haec  apta  sint,  nobis  disso- 
luta.  Scaenicorum  quidem  mos  tantam  habet  vetere 
disciplina  verecundiam,  ut  in  scaenam  sine  subliga- 
culo  prodeat  nemo;  verentur  enim,  ne,  si  quo  casu 
evenerit,  ut  corporis  partes  quaedam  aperiantur, 
aspiciantur  non  decori.  Nostro  quidem  more  cum 
parentibus  puberes  fihi,  cum  soceris  generi  non 
lavantur.  Retinenda  igitur  est  huius  generis  vere- 
cundia,  praesertim  natura  ipsa  magistra  et  duce. 

130  XXXVI.  Cum  autem  pulchritudinis  duo  genera 
sint,  quorum  in  altero  venustas  sit,  in  altero  dignitas, 

^quae  turpia  B  b,  Edd. ;  quae  re  turpia^  L  c ;  quae  . . .  autem 
om.  H. 
^quae  turpia  B  H  b,  Edd. ;  quae  re  turpia  L  c 
V<?  B  H,  Edd.;  not  in  A  Lb  c  p. 
130 


BOOK   I.   xxxv-xxxvi 

But  we  should  give  no  heed  to  the  Cynics  (or  to 
some  Stoies  who  are  practieally  Cynics)  who  censure 
and  ridicule  us  for  holding  that  the  mere  mention  of 
some  actions  that  are  not  immoral  is  shameful,  while 
other  things  that  are  immoral  we  call  by  their  real 
names.  Robbery,  fraud,  and  adultery,  for  example, 
are  immoral  in  deed,  but  it  is  not  indecent  to  name 
them.  To  beget  children  in  wedlock  is  in  deed 
morally  right;  to  speak  of  it  is  indecent.  And  they 
assail  modesty  with  a  great  many  other  arguments 
to  the  same  purport.  But  as  for  us,  let  us  follow 
nature  and  shun  everything  that  is  ofFensive  to  our 
eyes  or  our  ears.  So,  in  standing  or  walking,  in 
sitting  or  reclining,  in  our  expression,  our  eyes,  or 
the  movements  of  our  hands,  let  us  preserve  what 
we  have  called    propriety." 

In  these  matters  we  must  avoid  especially  the  two 
extremes:  our  conduct  and  speech  should  not  be 
effeminate  and  over-nice,  on  the  one  handj  nor  coarse 
and  boorish,  on  the  other.  And  we  surely  must  not 
admit  that  while  this  rule  appHes  to  actors  and  ora- 
tors,  it  is  not  binding  upon  us.  As  for  stage-people, 
their  custom,  because  of  its  traditional  disciphne, 
carries  modesty  to  such  a  point  that  an  actor  would 
never  step  out  upon  the  stage  without  a  bi-eech-cloth 
on,  for  fear  he  might  make  an  improper  exhibition, 
if  by  some  accident  cei*tain  parts  of  his  person  should 
happen  to  become  exposed.  And  in  our  own  custom, 
grown  sons  do  not  bathe  with  their  fathers,  nor 
sons-in-law  with  their  fathers-in-law.  We  must, 
therefore,  keep  to  the  path  of  this  sort  of  modesty, 
especially  when  Nature  is  our  teacher  and  guide. 

XXXVI.  Again,  there  are  two  orders  of  beauty :  m°^"outward 
in  the  one,  loveliness  predominates ;  in  the  other,  appearance; 
k2  131 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

venustatem  muliebrem  ducere  debemus^  dignitatem 
virilem.  Ergo  et  a  forma  removeatur  omnis  viro  non 
dignus  ornatus,  et  huic  simile  vitium  in  gestu  motu- 
que  caveatur.  Nam  et  palaestrici  motus  sunt  saepe 
odiosiores,  et  histrionum  non  nulH  gestus  ineptiis 
non  vacant,^  et  in  utroque  genere  quae  sunt  recta  et 
simphcia,  laudantur.  Formae  autem  dignitas  coloris 
bonitate  tuenda  est,  color  exercitationibus  corporis. 
Adhibenda  praeterea  munditia  est  non  odiosa  neque 
exquisita  nimis,  tantum  quae  fugiat  agrestem  et  in- 
humanam  neglegentiam.  Eadem  ratio  est  habenda 
vestitus,  in  quo,  sicut  in  plerisque  rebus,  mediocritas 
optima  est. 

131  Cavendum  autem  est,  ne  aut  tarditatibus  utamur 
in^  ingressu  molHoribuSj  ut  pomparum  fercuHs  similes 
esse  videamur,  aut  in  festinationibus  suscipiamus 
nimias  celeritates,  quae  cum  fiunt,  anlielitus  moven- 
tur,  vultus  mutanturj  ora  torquentur;  ex  quibus 
magna  significatio  fit  non  adesse  constantiam.  Sed 
multo  etiam  magis  elaborandum  est,  ne  animi  motus 
a  natura  recedant;  quod  assequemur,  si  cavebimus, 
ne  in  perturbationes  atque  exanimationes  incidamus, 
et  si  attentos  animos  ad  decoris  conservationem 
tenebimus. 

132  Motus  autem  animorum  dupHces  sunt,  alteri  cogi- 

'  ineptiis  non  vacant  A  B  H  a  b  ;  inepti  non  vacant  o^en- 
sione  L  c  p. 

'Hn  Edd.;  not  in  MSS. 

132 


BOOK  I.  xxxvi 

dignity ;  of  these,  we  ouglit  to  regard  loveliness  as 
the  attribute  of  woman^  and  dignity  as  the  attribute 
of  man.  Therefore^  let  all  finery  not  suitable  to  a 
man's  dignity  be  kept  ofF  his  person,  and  let  him 
guard  against  the  Hke  fault  in  gesture  and  action. 
The  manners  taught  in  the  palaestra/  for  example, 
are  often  rather  objectionable,  and  the  gestures  of 
actors  on  the  stage  are  not  always  free  from  aflPec- 
tation ;  but  simple,  unaffected  manners  are  commend- 
able  in  both  instances.  Now  dignity  of  mien  is  also 
to  be  enhanced  by  a  good  complexion;  the  complexion 
is  the  result  of  physical  exercise.  We  must  besides 
present  an  appearance  of  neatness — not  too  punctil- 
ious  or  exquisite,  but  just  enough  to  avoid  boorish 
and  ill-bred  slovenhness.  We  must  follow  the  same 
principle  in  regard  to  dress.  In  this,  as  in  most 
things,  the  best  rule  is  the  golden  mean. 

We  must  be  careful,  too,  not  to  fall  into  a  habit  of 
hstless  sauntering  in  our  gait,  so  as  to  look  hke  car- 
riers  in  festal  processions,  or  of  hurrying  too  fast, 
when  time  presses.  If  we  do  this,  it  puts  us  out  of 
breath,  our  looks  are  changed,  our  features  distorted ; 
and  all  this  is  clear  evidence  of  a  lack  of  poise.  But  (2)  in  inward 
it  is  much  more  important  that  we  succeed  in  keep-  seif-controi. 
ing  our  mental  operations  in  harmony  with  nature's 
laws.  And  we  shall  not  fail  in  this  if  we  guard 
against  violent  excitement  or  depression,  and  if  we 
keep  our  minds  intent  on  the  observance  of  pro- 
priety. 

Our   mental   operations,   moreover,   are   of  two 

^The  Greek  palaestra,  a  public  school  of  wrestling  and 
athletics,  adopted  by  the  Romans  became  a  place  of  exer- 
cise  where  the  youth  were  trained  in  gestures  and  attitudes 
a  nursery  of  foppish  manners. 

133 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

tationis^  alteri  appetitus ;  cogitatio  in  vero  exquirendo 
maxime  versatur,  appetitus  impellit  ad  agendum. 
Curandum  est  igitur,  ut  cogitatione  ad  res  quam 
optimas  utamur,  appetitum  rationi  oboedientem 
praebeamus. 

XXXVII.  Et  quoniam  magna  vis  orationis  est, 
eaque  duplex,  altera  contentionis,  altera  sermonis, 
contentio  disceptationibus  tribuatur  iudiciorum,  con- 
tionum,  senatus,  sermo  in  circulis,  disputationibus, 
congressionibus  familiarium  versetur,  sequatur  etiam 
convivia.  Contentionis  praecepta  rhetorum  sunt, 
nuUa  sermonis,  quamquam  haud  scio  an  possint  haec 
quoque  esse.  Sed  discentium  studiis  inveniuntur 
magistri,  huic  autem  qui  studeant,  sunt  nulli,  rheto- 
rum  turba  referta  omnia ;  quamquam,  quae  ^  verborum 
sententiarumque  praecepta  sunt,  eadem  ad  sennonem 
pertinebunt. 
133  Sed  cum  orationis  indicem  vocem  habeamus,  in 
voce  autem  duo  sequamur,  ut  clara  sit,  ut  suavis, 
utrumque  omnino  a  natura  petundum  est,  verum 
alterum  exercitatio  augebit,  alterum  imitatio  presse 
loquentium  et  leniter. 

Nihil  fuit  in  Catulis,  ut  eos  exquisito  iudicio  pu- 
tares  uti  litterarum,  quamquam  erant  litterati ;  sed 
et  alii ;  hi  autem  optime  uti  lingua  Latina  putaban- 

quae  A^  c,  Edd.  ifuoniam  (per  compend.)  A'  B  H  a  b, 
134 


BOOK  I.  xxxvi-xxxvii 

kinds:  some  have  to  do  with  thought,  others  with 
impulse.  Thought  is  occupied  chiefly  with  the  dis- 
covery  of  truth;  impulse  prompts  to  action.  We 
must  be  careful,  therefore,  to  employ  our  thoughts 
on  themes  as  elevating  as  possible  and  to  keep  our 
impulses  under  the  control  of  reason. 

I. XXVII.  The  power  of  speech  in  the  attainment  Propriety  in 
of  pi*opriety  is  great,  and  its  function  is  twofold :  tlie  Ind^conver-*""^^ 
first  is  oratory ;  the  second,  conversation.     Oratory  sation. 
is  the  kind  of  discourse  to  be  employed  in  pleadings  in 
court  and  speeches  in  popular  assembHes  and  in  the 
senate ;  conversation  should  find  its  natural  place  in 
social  gatherings,  in  informal  discussions,  and  in  inter-  i 

course  with  friends ;  it  should  also  seek  admission  at 
dinners.  There  are  rules  for  oratory  laid  down  by 
rhetoricians ;  there  are  none  for  conversation ;  and 
yet  I  do  not  know  why  there  should  not  be.  But 
where  there  are  students  to  learn,  teachers  are 
found;  there  are^  however^  none  who  make  conver- 
sation  a  subject  of  study,  whereas  pupils  throng 
about  the  rhetoricians  everywhere.  And  yet  the 
same  rules  that  we  have  for  words  and  sentences  in 
rhetoric  will  apply  also  to  conversation. 

Now  since  we  have  the  voice  as  the  organ  of 
speech,  we  should  aim  to  secure  two  properties 
for  it:  that  it  be  clear,  and  that  it  be  musical. 
We  must,  of  course,  look  to  nature  for  both  gifts. 
But  distinctness  may  be  improved  by  practice ;  the 
musical  qualities,  by  imitating  those  who  speak 
with  smooth  and  articulate  enunciation. 

There  was  nothing  in  the  two  Catuli  to  lead  one 
to  suppose  that  they  had  a  refined  literary  taste; 
tliey  were  men  of  culture,  it  is  true ;  and  so  were 
others ;  but  the  Catuli  were  looked  upon  as  the  perfect 

13.5 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
tur;  sonus  erat  dulcis^  litterae  neque  expressae 
neque  oppressae,  iie  aut  obscurum  esset  aut  putidum, 
sine  contentione  vox  nec  languens  nec  canora. 
Uberior  oratio  L.  Crassi  nec  minus  facetaj  sed  bene 
loquendi  de  Catulis  opinio  non  minor.  Sale  vero  et 
facetiis  Caesar,  Catuli  patris  frater,  vicit  omnes,  ut  in 
illo  ipso  forensi  genere  dicendi  contentiones  aliorum 
sermone  vinceret. 

In  omnibus  igitur  his  elaborandum  est,  si  in  omni 
re  quid  deceat  exquirimus. 

134  Sit  ergo  hic  sermo,  in  quo  Socratici  maxime  excel- 
lunt,  lenis  minimeque  pertinax,  insit  in  eo  lepos; 
nec  vero,  tamquam  in  possessionem  suam  venerit, 
excludat  ahos,  sed  cum  reliquis  in  rebus,  tum  in 
sermone  communi  vicissitudinem  non  iniquam  putet ; 
ac  videat  in  primis,  quibus  de  rebus  loquatur;  si 
seriis,  severitatem  adhibeat,  si  iocosis,  leporem ;  in 
primisque  provideat,  ne  sermo  vitium  aliquod  indicet 
inesse  in  moribus ;  quod  maxime  tum  solet  evenire, 
cum  studiose  de  absentibus  detrahendi  causa  aut  per 
ridiculum  aiit  severe  maledice  contumehoseque  di- 
citur. 

135  Habentur    autem    plerumque   sermones   aut   de 

domesticis  negotiis  aut  de  re  publica  aut  de  artium 
136 


BOOK  I.  xxxvii 

masters  of  the  Latin  tongue.  Their  pronunciation 
was  charming;  their  words  were  neither  mouthed 
nor  mumbled :  they  avoided  both  indistinctness  and 
aiFectation;  their  voices  were  free  from  strain,  yet 
neither  faint  nor  shrill.  More  copious  was  the  speech 
of  Lucius  Crassus  and  not  less  brilliant^  but  the  re- 
putation  of  the  two  CatuH  for  eloquence  was  fully 
equal  to  his.  But  in  wit  and  humour  Caesar,  the 
elder  Catulus's  half-brother^  surpassed  them  all: 
even  at  the  bar  he  would  with  his  conversational 
style  defeat  other  advocates  with  their  elaborate 
orations. 

If,  therefore,  we  are  aiming  to  secure  propriety  in 
every  circumstance  of  hfe,  we  must  master  all  these 
points. 

Conversation,  then,  in  which  the  Socratics  are  the  Conversation 
best  models,  should  have  these  qualities.  It  should 
be  easy  and  not  in  the  least  dogmatic ;  it  should  have 
the  spice  of  wit.  And  the  one  who  engages  in  con- 
versation  should  not  debar  others  from  participating 
in  it,  as  if  he  were  entering  upon  a  private  monopoly ; 
but,  as  in  other  things,  so  in  a  general  conver- 
sation  he  should  think  it  not  unfair  for  each  to  have 
his  turn.  He  should  observe,  first  and  foremost, 
what  the  subject  of  conversation  is.  If  it  is  grave, 
he  should  treat  it  with  seriousness;  if  humorous, 
with  wit.  And  above  all,  he  should  be  on  the  watch 
that  liis  conversation  shall  not  betray  some  defect  in 
his  character.  This  is  most  Hkely  to  occur,  when 
people  in  jest  or  in  earnest  take  dehght  in  making 
mahcious  and  slanderous  statements  about  the  ab- 
sent,  on  purpose  to  injure  their  reputations. 

The  subjects  of  conversation  are  usually  affairs  of 
the  home  or  peUtics  or  the  practice  of  the  professions 

137 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

studiis  atque  doctrina,  Danda  igitur  opera  est,  ut, 
etiamsi  aberrare  ad  alia  coeperit,  ad  haec  revocetur 
oratio,  sed  utcumque  aderunt;  neque  enim  isdem^ 
de  rebus  nec  omni  tempore  nec  similiter  delecta- 
mur.  Animadvertendum  est  etiam,  quatenus  sermo 
delectationem  habeat,  et,  ut  incipiendi  ratio  fuerit,  ita 
sit  desinendi  modus. 

136  XXXVIII.  Sed  quo  modo  in  omni  vita  rectissime 
praecipitur,  ut  perturbationes  fugiamus,  id  est  motus 
animi  nimios  rationi  non  optemperantes,  sic  eius 
modi  motibus  sermo  debet  vacare,  ne  aut  ira  exsistat 
aut  cupiditas  aliqua  aut  pigritia  aut  ignavia  aut  tale 
aliquid  appareat,  maximeque  curandum  est,  ut  eos, 
quibuscum  sermonem  conferemus,  et  vereri  et  dili- 
gere  videamur. 

Obiurgationes  etiam  non  numquam  incidunt  ne- 
cessariae,  in  quibus  utendum  est  fortasse  et  vocis 
contentione  maiore  et  verborum  gravitate  acriore,  id 
agendum  etiam,  ut  ea  facere  videamur  irati.  Sed,  ut 
ad  urendum  et  secandum,  sic  ad  hoc  genus  castigandi 
raro  invitique  veniemus  nec  umquam  nisi  necessario, 
si  nulla  reperietur  alia  medicina ;  sed  tamen  ira  procul 
absit,  cum  qua  nihil  recte  fieri,  nihil  considerate  potest. 

137  Magnam  autem  partem^  clementi  castigatione  licet 
uti,  gravitate  tamen  adiuncta,  ut  severitas  adhibea- 
tur  et  contumelia  repellatur,  atque  etiam  illud  ipsum, 
quod  acerbitatis  habet  obiurgatio,  significandum  est, 
ipsius  id  causa,  qui  obiurgetur,  esse  susceptum. 

'  enim  isdem  (hisdem  B  H)  A  B  H  b,  Miiller  ;  enim  omnes 
isdem  L  c,  most  Edd. 

^magnam  autem  partem  Lambinus,  Edd.;  magna  autem 
parte  MSS. 
138 


BOOK  T.  xxxvii-xxxviii 

and  learning.  Accordingly,  if  the  talk  begins  to 
drift  ofF  to  other  channels,  pains  should  be  taken  to 
bring  it  back  again  to  the  matter  in  hand — but  with 
due  consideration  to  the  company  present;  for  we 
are  not  all  interested  in  the  same  things  at  all  times 
or  in  the  same  degree.  We  must  observe,  too,  how 
far  the  conversation  is  agreeable  and,  as  it  had  a 
reason  for  its  beginning,  so  there  should  be  a  point 
at  which  to  close  it  tactfully. 

XXXVIII.  But  as  we  have  a  most  excellent  rule  Propriety 
for  every  phase  of  life^  to  avoid  exhibitions  of  passion,  °  ^^^^*^ 
that  iSj  mental  excitement  that  is  excessive  and  un- 
controlled  by  reason ;  so  our  conversation  ought  to 
be  free  from  such  emotions :  let  there  be  no  exhibition 
of  anger  or  inordinate  desire,  of  indolence  or  indiffe- 
rence,  or  anything  of  the  kind.  We  must  also  take 
the  greatest  care  to  show  courtesy  and  consideration 
toward  those  with  whom  we  converse. 

It  may  sometimes  happen  that  there  is  need  of  fiHnreproofs, 
administering  reproof.  On  such  occasions  we  should, 
perhapsj  use  a  more  emphatic  tone  of  voice  and 
more  forcible  and  severe  terms  and  even  assume  an 
appearance  of  being  angry.  But  we  shall  have  re- 
course  to  this  sort  of  reproof,  as  we  do  to  cautery 
and  amputation,  rarely  and  reluctantly — never  at  all, 
unless  it  is  unavoidable  and  no  other  remedy  can  be 
discovered.  We  may  seem  angry,  but  anger  should 
be  far  from  us;  for  in  anger  nothing  right  or  judi- 
cious  can  be  done.  In  most  cases,  we  may  apply  a 
mild  reproof,  so  combined,  however,  with  earnest- 
ness,  that  while  severity  is  shown^  offensive  language 
is  avoided.  Nay  more,  we  must  show  clearly  that 
even  that  very  harshness  which  goes  with  our  re- 
proof  is  designed  for  the  good  of  the  person  reproved. 

139 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Rectum  est  autem  etiam  in  illis  eontentionibus, 
quae  cum  inimicissimis  fiunt,  etiamsi  nobis  indigna 
audiamusj  tamen  gravitatem  retinere,  iracundiam 
pellere.  Quae  enim  cum  aliqua  perturbatione  fiunt, 
ea  nec  constanter  fieri  possunt  neque  iis,  qui  adsunt, 
probari. 

Deforme  etiam  est  de  se  ipsum  praedicare  falsa 
praesertim  et  cum  irrisione  audientium  imitari  mili- 
tem  gloriosum. 

138  XXXIX.  Et  quoniam  omnia  persequimur,  volu- 
mus  quidem  certe,  dicendum  est  etiam,  qualem 
hominis  honorati  et  principis  domum  placeat  esse, 
cuius  finis  est  usus/  ad  quem  accommodanda  est 
aedificandi  descriptio  et  tamen  adhibenda  commo- 
ditatis  dignitatisque  diligentia. 

Cn.  Octavio,  qui  primus  ex  illa  familia  consul 
factus  est,  honori  fuisse  accepimus,  quod  praeclaram 
aedificasset  in  Palatio  et  plenam  dignitatis  domum ; 
quae  cum  vulgo  viseretur,  sufFragata  domino,  novo 
homini,  ad  consulatum  putabatur ;  hanc  Scaurus 
demolitus  accessionem  adiunxit  aedibus.  Itaque 
ille  in  suam  domum  consulatum  primus  attulit,  hic, 
•  summi  et  clarissimi  viri  fiUus,  in  domum  multipli- 
catam  non  repulsam  solum  rettuHt,  sed  ignominianj 

139  etiam  et^  calamitatem.  Ornanda  enim  est  dignitas 
domo,  non  ex  domo  tota  quaerenda,  nec  domo 
dominus,  sed  domino  domus  honestanda  est,  et,  ut 

'  est  usus  L  c,  Edd. ;  et  usus  B  H  a  b. 
•  ^^  L  c,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  b. 

140 


BOOK  I.  xxxviii-xxxix 

The  right  course,  moreover,  even  in  our  difFerences  (2)  in  disputes, 
with  our  bitterest  enemies,  is  to  maintain  our  dig- 
nity  and  to  repress  our  anger,  even  though  we  are 
treated  outrageously.  For  what  is  done  under  some 
degree  of  excitement  cannot  be  done  with  perfect 
self-respect  or  the  approval  of  those  who  witness  it. 

It  is  bad  taste  also  to  talk  about  oneself — especi-  praise!^ 
ally  if  what  one  says  is  not   true— and,  amid  the 
derision  of  one's  hearers^  to  play      The  Braggart 
Captain."  ^ 

XXXIX.  But  since  1  am  investigating  this  subject  J^^P''"^*'' 
in  all  its  phases  (at  least,  that  is  my  purpose),  I 
must  discuss  also  what  sort  of  house  a  man  of  rank 
and  station  should,  in  my  opinion,  have.  Its  prime 
object  is  serviceableness.  To  this  the  plan  of  the 
building  should  be  adapted ;  and  yet  careful  atten- 
tion  should  be  paid  to  its  convenience  and  distinction. 

We  have  heard  that  Gnaeus  Octavius — the  first 
of  that  family  to  be  elected  consul — distinguished 
himself  by  building  upon  the  Palatine  an  attractive 
and  imposing  house.  Everybody  went  to  see  it, 
and  it  was  thought  to  have  gained  votes  for  the 
owner,  a  new  man^  in  his  canvass  for  the  consulship. 
That  house  Scaurus  demoHshed,  and  on  its  site  he 
built  an  addition  to  his  own  house.  Octavius^  then, 
was  the  first  of  his  family  to  bring  the  honour  of  a 
consulship  to  his  house ;  Scaurus,  though  the  son  of 
a  very  great  and  illustrious  man,  brought  to  the 
same  house,  when  enlarged,  not  only  defeat,  but  dis- 
grace  and  ruin.  The  truth  is,  a  man's  dignity  may  be 
enhanced  by  the  house  he  hves  in,  but  not  wholly 
secured  by  it ;  the  owner  should  bring  honour  to  his 

^  Like  Pyrgopolinices  in  the  Miles  Gloriosus  of  Plautus, 
or  Thraso  in  the  Eunuchus  of  Terence. 

141 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
in  ceteris  habenda  ratio  non  sua  solurn,  sed  etiam 
aliorum,  sic  in  domo  clari  hominis,  in  quam  et 
hospites  multi  recipiendi  et  admittenda  hominum 
cuiusque  modi  multitudo,  adhibenda  cura  est  laxi- 
tatis;  ahter  ampla  domus  dedecori  saepe  domino 
fit,  si  est  in  ea  solitudo,  et  maxime,  si  aliquando 
alio  domino  soHta  est  frequentari.  Odiosum  est 
enim,  cum  a  praetereuntibus  dicitur : 

o  domus  antiqua^  heu^  quam  dispari 
dominare  dominol 

quod  quidem  his  temporibus  in  multis  licet  dicere. 
140  Cavendum  autem  est,  praesertim  si  ipse  aedifices, 
ne  extra  modum  sumptu  et  magnificentia  prodeas; 
quo  in  genere  multum  mali  etiam  in  exemplo  est. 
Studiose  enim  plerique  praesertim  in  hanc  partem 
facta  principum  imitantur,  ut  L.  Luculli,  summi  viri, 
virtutem  quis?  at  quam  multi  villarum  magnificen- 
tiam  imitati !  quarum  quidem  certe  est  adhibendus 
modus  ad  mediocritatemque  ^  revocandus.  Eademque 
mediocritas  ad  omnem  usum  cultumque  vitae  trans- 
ferenda  est. 

Sed  haec  hactenus. 

^fit  Bt,  Ed.;  «V  B  H  a  b  ;  est  L  (corr.  ex  sit  b),  Muller, 
Heine;  not  in  c. 

«  heu  Edd. ;  et  MSS. ;  ei  Schenkl. 

^*  mediocritatemque  :  que  italicized  by  Ed.  but  attested  by 
B  H  L  b  c. 
142 


BOOK  I.  xxxix 

house^  not  the  house  to  its  owner.  And,  as  in 
everything  else  a  man  must  have  regard  not  for 
himself  alone  but  for  others  also,  so  in  the  home  of 
a  distinguished  man^  in  which  numerous  guests  must 
be  entertained  and  crowds  of  every  sort  of  people 
received,  care  must  be  taken  to  have  it  spacious. 
But  if  it  is  not  frequented  by  visitors,  if  it  has  an 
air  of  lonesomeness^  a  spacious  palace  often  becomes 
a  discredit  to  its  owner.  This  is  sure  to  be  the 
case  if  at  some  other  time,  when  it  had  a  different 
owner,  it  used  to  be  thronged.  For  it  is  unpleasant, 
when  passers-by  remark : 

O  good  old  house,  alas !  how  different 
The  owner  who  now  owneth  thee ! " 
And  in  these  times  that  may  be  said  of  many  a 
house ! ^ 

One  must  be  careful,  too,  not  to  go  beyond 
proper  bounds  in  expense  and  display,  especially 
if  one  is  building  for  oneself.  For  much  mischief 
is  done  in  this  way,  if  only  in  the  example  set. 
For  many  people  imitate  zealously  the  foibles  of 
the  great,  particularly  in  this  direction :  for  example, 
who  copies  the  virtues  of  Lucius  Lucullus,  excel- 
lent  man  that  he  was  ?  But  how  many  there  are  who 
have  copied  the  magnificence  of  his  villas !  Some 
Hmit  should  surely  be  set  to  this  tendency  and  it 
should  be  reduccd  at  least  to  a  standard  of  modera- 
tion;  and  by  that  same  standard  of  moderation  the 
comforts  and  wants  of  life  generally  should  be  regu- 
lated. 

But  enough  on  this  part  of  my  theme. 

'  Members  of  Caesar's  party  were  now  occupylng'  the 
houses  that  had  been  the  homes  of  Pompey's  friends, 
Antony,  for  example,  lived  in  Pompey's  house. 

143 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

141  In  omni  autem  actione  suscipienda  tria  sunt 
tenenda,  primum  ut  appetitus  rationi  pareat,  quo 
nihil  est  ad  officia  conservanda  accommodatius, 
deinde  ut  animadvertatur,  quanta  illa  res  sit,  quam 
efficere  velimus,  ut  neve  maior  neve  minor  cura  et 
opera  suscipiatur,  quam  causa  postulet.  Tertium 
est,  ut  caveamus,  ut  ea,  quae  pertinent  ad  liberalem 
speciem  et  dignitatem,^  moderata^  sint.  Modus 
autem  est  optimus  decus  ipsum  tenere,  de  quo  ante 
diximus,  nec  progredi  longius.  Horum  tamen  trium 
praestantissimum  est  appetitum  optemperare  rationi. 

142  XL.  Deinceps  de  ordine  rerum  et  de  opportunitate 
temporum  dicendum  est.  Haec  autem  scientia  con- 
tinentur  ea,  quam  Graeci  evra^tav  nominant,  non 
hanc,  quam  interpretamur  modestiam,  quo  in  verbo 
modus  inest,  sed  illa  est  ^vra^ia,  in  qua  intellegitur 
ordinis  conservatio.  Itaque,  ut  eandem  nos  mode- 
stiam  appellemus,  sic  definitur  a  Stoicis,  ut  modestia 
sit  scientia  rerum  earum,  quae  agentur  aut  dicentur, 
loco  suo  collocandarum.  Ita  videtur  eadem  vis 
ordinis  et  coUocationis  fore;  nam  et  ordinem  sic 
definiunt:  compositionem  rerum  aptis  et  accommo- 
datis  locis;  locum  autem  actionis  opportunitatem' 
temporis  esse  dicunt;  tempus  autem  actionis  oppor- 
tunum*  Graece  fVKaLpla,  Latine  appellatur  occasio. 
Sic  fit,  ut  modestia  haec,  quam  ita  interpretamur,  ut 

'  ad  liberalem  speciem  et  dignitatem  B  H  b,  Edd. ;  ad 
liberalitatem  specie  et  dignitate  L  c  p. 

^moderata  L  c  p,  Edd.;  moderanda  B  H  a  b. 
^oportunitate{m)  Ed.  *oportunum  Ed» 

144 


BOOK  I.  xxxix-xl 

In  entering  upon  any  course  of  action^  then^  Three  ruies  for 
we  must  hold  fast  to  three  principles :  first,  that  proprkt^y° 
impulse  shall  obey  reason;  for  there  is  no  better 
way  than  this  to  secure  the  observance  of  duties; 
second,  that  we  estimate  carefully  the  importance 
of  the  object  that  we  wish  to  accomplish,  so  that 
neither  more  nor  less  care  and  attention  may  be 
expended  upon  it  than  the  case  requires;  the  tliird 
principle  is  that  we  be  careful  to  observe  moderation 
in  all  that  is  essential  to  the  outward  appearance 
and  dignity  of  a  gentleman.  Moreover,  the  best 
rule  for  securing  this  is  strictly  to  observe  that 
propriety  which  we  have  discussed  above,  and  not 
to  overstep  it.  Yet  of  these  three  principles,  the 
one  of  prime  importance  is  to  keep  impulse  sub- 
servient  to  reason. 

XL.   Next,  then,  we  must  discuss  orderliness  of  Orderiiness— 
conduct  and  seasonableness  of  occasions.     These  two  a^^the^^*  '^'°^ 
quahties  are   embraced  in  that  science  which   the  "ght  time. 
Greeks    call    exra^ia — not    that    evTa^ui    which    we 
translate   with   moderation   [inodesLia],   derived   from 
moderate;  but  this  is  the  ivra^ia  by  which  we  under- 
stand   orderly  conduct.      And   so,   if  we  may  call  it 
also  moderation,  it  is  defined  by  the  Stoics  as  follows : 

Moderation  is  the  science  of  disposing  aright 
everything  that  is  done  or  said."  So  the  essence 
of  orderhness  and  of  right-placing,  it  seems,  will  be 
the  same ;  for  orderliness  they  define  also  as  the 
arrangement  of  things  in  their  suitable  and  appro- 
priate  places."  By  place  of  action,"  moreover, 
they  mean  seasonahleness  of  circumstance ;  and  the 
seasonable  circumstance  for  an  action  is  called  in 
Greek  evKaipia,  in  Latin  occasio  (occasion).  So  it 
comes  about  that  in  this  sense  moderation,  which  we 
t  145 


•     CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

dixi,  scientia  sit  opportunitatis*  idoneorum  ad  agen- 
dum  temporum. 

143  Sed  potest  eadem   esse  prudentiae  definitio,  de 
Ch.  vi  qua  principio  diximus ;  lioc  autem  loco  de  modera- 

tione  et  temperantia  et  harum  similibus  virtutibus 
quaerimus.  Itaque,  quae  erant  prudentiae  propria, 
suo  loco  dicta  sunt ;  quae  autem  harum  virtutum,  de 
quibus  iam  diu  loquimur,  quae  pertinent  ad  vere- 
cundiam  et  ad  eorum  approbationem,  quibuscum 
vivimus,  nunc  dicenda  sunt. 

144  Talis    est    igitur   ordo  actionum   adhibendus,  ut, 

quem  ad   modum  in  oratione  constanti,  sic  in  vita 

omnia    sint    apta    inter   se   et   convenientia ;    turpe 

enim  valdeque  vitiosum  in  re  severa  convivio  digna^ 

aut   delicatum    aliquem    inferre    sermonem.      Bene 

Pericles,  cum  haberet  collegam  in  praetura  Soplio- 

clem'  poetam  iique  de  communi  officio  convenissent 

et     casu      formosus     puer    praeteriret    dixissetque 

Sophocles:      O  puerum  pulchrum,  Pericle!"     "A1 

enim  praetorem,  Sophocle,  decet  non  solum  manus, 

ved  etiam  oculos  abstinentes  habere."     Atqui^  lioc 

idem  Sophocles  si  in  athletarum  probatione  dixisset, 

iusta  reprehensione  caruisset,     Tanta  vis  est  et  loci 

et  temporis.      Ut,  si  qui,  cum  causam  sit  acturus,  in 

itinere  aut  in  ambulatione  secum  ipse  meditetur,  aut 

si  quid  aliud  attentius  cogitet,  non  repreliendatur,  at 

'  oportnnitatis  Ed. 

*  convivio  digna  B  H  a  b,  Edtl. ;  convivio  dignum  c ;  convu 
vii  dicta  L  p. 

^  Atqui  Miiller,  Heine;  atque  MSS.,  Bt. 

146 


BOOK  I.  xl 

explain  as  I  have  indicated,  is  the  science  of  doing 
tlie  right  thing  at  the  right  time. 

A  similar  definition  can  be  given  for  prudence,  of 
which  I  have  spoken  in  an  early  chapter.  But  in 
this  part  we  are  considering  temperance  and  self- 
control  and  related  virtues.  Accordingly,  the 
properties  which,  as  we  found,  are  peculiar  to  pru- 
dence,  were  discussed  in  their  proper  place,  while 
those  are  to  be  discussed  now  which  are  peculiar  to 
these  virtues  of  which  we  have  for  some  time  been 
speaking  and  which  relate  to  considerateness  and  to 
the  approbation  of  our  fellow-men. 

Such  orderHness  of  conduct  is,  therefore,  to  be  ob- 
served,  that  everything  in  the  conduct  of  our  Hfe 
shaH  balance  and  harmonize,  as  in  a  finished  speech.  seasonabiene» 
For  it  is  unbecoming  and  highly  censurable,  when  °^  spcech. 
upon  a  serious  theme,  to  introduce  such  jests  as  are 
proper  at  a  dinner,  or  any  sort  of  loose  talk.  When 
Pericles  was  associated  with  the  poet  Sophocles  as 
his  coHeague  in  command  and  they  had  met  to 
confer  about  ofiicial  business  tliat  concerned  tliem 
both,  a  handsome  boy  chanced  to  pass  and  Sophocles 
said:  Look,  Pericles;  what  a  pretty  boy!"  How 
pertinent  was  Pericles's  reply  :  "  Hush,  Sophocles, 
a  general  should  keep  not  only  his  liands  but  his 
eyes  under  control."  And  yet,  if  Sophocles  had 
made  tliis  same  remark  at  a  trial  of  athletes,  he 
would  have  incurred  no  just  reprimand.  So  great 
is  the  significance  of  botli  place  and  circumstance. 
For  example,  if  anyone,  while  on  a  journey  or  on  a 
vvalk,  should  rehearse  to  liimself  a  case  which  he  is 
preparing  to  conduct  in  court,  or  if  he  should  under 
similar  circumstances  apply  his  closcst  thought  to 
some  other  subject,  he  would  not  be  open  to  censure : 
h2  J47 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

hoc  idem  si  in  convivio  faciat,  inhumanus  videatur 
inscitia  temporis. 

145  Sed  ea,  quae  multum  ab  humanitate  discrepant,  ut 
si  qui  in  foro  cantet,  aut  si  qua  est  alia  magna  per- 
versitas,  facile  apparet  nec  magnopere  admonitionem 
et  praecepta  desiderat;  quac  auteni  parva  videntur 
esse  delicta  neque  a  multis  intellegi  possunt,  ab  iis' 
est  diligentius  declinandum.  Ut  in  fidibus  aut  ti- 
biis,  quamvis  paulum  discrepent,  tamen  id  a  sciente 
animadverti  solet,  sic  videndum^  est  in  vita  ne  forte 
quid  discrepet,  vel  multo  etiam  magis,  quo  maior  et 
melior  actionum  quam  sonorum  concentus  est. 

146  XLI.  Itaque,utinfidibusmusicorumauresvelmini- 
ma  sentiunt,  sic  nos,  si  acres  ac  diligentes  esse  volumus 
animadversores[que]  ■*  vitiorum,  magna  saepe  intelle- 
gemus  ex  parvis.  Ex  oculoi'um  optutu,  superciliorum 
aut  remissione  aut  contractione,  ex  maestitia,  ex 
hilaritate,  ex  risu,  ex  locutione,  ex  reticentia,  ex 
contentione  vocis,  ex  summissione,  ex  ceteris  simili- 
bus  facile  iudicabimus,  quid  eorum  apte  fiat,  quid  ab 
officio  naturaque  discrepet.  Quo  in  genere  non  est 
incommodum,  quale  quidque  eorum  sit,  ex  aliis  iudi- 
care,  ut,  si  quid  dedeceat  in  illis,*  vitemus  ipsi ;  fit 
enim  nescio  quo  modo,  ut  magis  in  aliis  cernamus 
quam  in  nobismet  ipsis,  si  quid  delinquitur.  Itaque 
facillime  corriguntur  in  discendo,  quorum  vitia  imi- 
tantur  emendandi  causa  magistri. 


'mEdd.;AwMSS. 

•  videndum  L  c,  Edd. ;  vivendutn  B  H  a  b. 

^  animadversores  [que\  Ed.;  animadversoresque  MSS. ; 
* animadversoresque  Bt.;  animadversores  Orelli,  Miiller, 
Heine. 

*  dedeceat  a  c,  Edd  ;  deceat  H  L  b;  non  deceat  B.  in  illis 
a  Bt.',  Ed.;  in  illos  B  H  b  c;  illos  L,  Bt.« 

148 


BOOK  t.  xl-xli 

but  if  he  should  do  that  same  tlvng  at  a  dinner, 
he  would  be  tliought  ill-bred,  because  he  ignored 
the  proprieties  of  the  occasion. 

But  flagrant  breaches  of  good  breeding,  like  sing-  Theiittie 
ing  in  the  streets  or  any  other  gross  misconduct,  are  colllu. 
easily  apparent  and  do  not  call  especially  for  ad- 
monition  and  instruction.  But  we  must  even  more 
carefully  avoid  those  seemingly  trivial  faults  wliich 
pass  unnoticed  by  the  many.  However  shghtly  out 
of  tune  a  harp  or  flute  may  be,  the  fault  is  still 
detected  by  a  connoisseur;  so  we  must  be  on  the 
watch  lest  haply  something  in  our  life  be  out  of 
tune — nay,  rather,  far  greater  is  the  need  for  pains- 
taking,  inasmucli  as  harmony  of  actions  is  far  better 
and  far  more  important  tlian  harmony  of  sounds. 

XLI.  As,  therefore,  a  musical  ear  detects  even  the  we  correct  om 
shghtest  falsity  of  tone  in  a  harp,  so  we,  if  we  wish  (i^by  observiV 
to  be  keen  and  careful  observers  of  moral  faults,  shall  others, 
often  draw  important  conclusions  from  trifles.  We 
observe  othcrs  and  from  a  glance  of  the  eyes,  from 
a  contracting  or  relaxing  of  the  brows,  from  an  air 
of  sadness,  from  an  outburst  of  joy,  from  a  laugh, 
from  speech,  from  silence,  from  a  raising  or  lowering 
of  the  voice,  and  the  hke,  we  shall  easily  judge  which 
of  our  actions  is  proper,  and  which  is  out  of  accord 
with  duty  and  nature.  And,  in  the  same  manner,  it 
is  not  a  bad  plan  to  judge  of  the  nature  of  our  every 
action  by  studying  others,  that  so  we  may  ourselves 
avoid  anything  that  is  unbecoming  in  them.  For  it 
happens  somehow  or  other  that  we  detect  another's 
failings  more  readily  than  we  do  our  own;  and  so 
in  the  school-room  tliose  pupils  learn  most  easily 
to  do  better  wliose  faults  the  masters  mimic  for  the 
sake  of  correcting  them. 

149 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

1 47  Nec  vero  alienum  est  ad  ea  eligenda,  quae  dubita- 
tionem  afferunt,  adhibere  doctos  homines  vel  etiam 
usu  peritos  et,  quid  iis  de  quoque  officii  genere  pla- 
ceat,  exquirere.  Maior  enim  pars  eo  fere  defcrri 
solet,  quo  a  natura  ipsa  deducitur.  In  quibus  viden- 
dum  est,  non  modo  quid  quisque  loquatur,  sed 
etiam  quid  quisque  sentiat  atque  etiam  de  qua 
causa  quisque  sentiat.  Ut  enim  pictores  et  ii, 
qui  si;?na  fabricantur,  et  vero  etiam  poetae  suum 
quisque  opus  a  vulgo  considerarivult,ut,si  quid  repre- 
hensum  sit  a  pluribus,  id  corrigatur,  iique  et  secum 
et  ab  ahis,^  quid  in  eo  peccatum  sit,  exquirunt,  sic 
aliorum  iudicio  permulta  nobis  et  facienda  et  non 
facienda  et  mutanda  et  corrigenda  sunt. 

1 48  Quae  vero  more  agentur  institutisque  civilibus,  de 
iis  nihil  est  praecipiendum;  illa  enim  ipsa  praecepta 
sunt,  nec  quemquam  hoc  errore  duci  oportet,  ut,  si 
quid  Socrates  aut  Aristippus  contra  morem  consue- 
tudinemque  civilem  fecerint  locutive  sint,  idera  sibi 
arbitretur  licere;  magnis  illi  et  divinis  bonis  hanc 
licentiam  assequebantur.  Cynicorum  vero  ratio  tota 
est  eicienda ;  est  enim  inimica  verecundiae,  sine  qua 
nihil  rectum  esse  potest,  nihil  honestum. 

1 49  Eos  autem,  quorum  vita  perspecta  in  rebus  honestis 
atque  magnis  est,  bene  de  re  publica  sentientes  ac 
bene  raeritos  aut  merentes  sic  ut^  ahquo  honore  aut 

'  et  ab  aliis  a,  Bt.,  Ed.;  aliis  B  H  b;  et  cum  aliis  c;  et  ex 
aliis  Unger,  Muller. 
^sic  ut  L  p,  Nonius ;  not  in  B  H  b  c. 

150 


BOOK  I    xli 

Nor  is  it  out  of  place  in  naaking  a  clioice  between  (2)  by  the  criti 
duties  involving  a  doubt,  to  consult  men  of  learning  ^i^!  ° 
or  practical  wisdom  and  to  ascertain  what  their  views 
are  on  any  particular  question  of  duty.  For  the 
majority  usually  drift  as  the  current  of  their  own 
natural  inchnations  carries  them;  and  in  deriving 
counsel  from  one  of  these,  we  have  to  see  not  only 
what  our  adviser  says,  but  also  what  he  thinks,  and 
what  his  reasons  are  for  thinking  as  he  does.  For, 
as  painters  and  sculptors  and  even  poets,  too,  wish 
to  have  their  works  reviewed  by  the  pubhc,  in  order 
thatj  if  any  point  is  generally  criticized,  it  may  be 
improved ;  and  as  they  try  to  discover  both  by  them- 
selves  and  witli  the  help  of  otliers  what  is  wrong  in 
their  work ;  so  through  consulting  the  judgment  of 
others  we  find  that  there  are  many  things  to  be  done 
and  left  undone,  to  be  altered  and  improved. 

But  no  rules  need  to  be  given  about  what  is  done  The  laws  oi 
in  accordance  with  the  established  customs  and  con-  Jufes'of  duty. 
ventions  of  a  community;  for  these  are  in  themselves 
rules;  and  no  one  ought  to  make  the  mistake  of 
supposing  that,  because  Socrates  or  Aristippus  did 
or  said  something  contrary  to  the  manners  and  estab- 
Ushed  customs  of  their  city,  he  has  a  right  to  do  the 
same ;  it  was  only  by  reason  of  their  great  and  super- 
human  virtues  that  those  famous  men  acquired  this 
special  privilege.  But  the  Cynics'  whole  system  of 
philosophy  must  be  rejected,  for  it  is  inimical  to  moral 
sensibihty,  and  without  moral  sensibility  nothing 
can  be  upright,  nothing  morally  good. 

It  is,  furthermore,  our  duty  to  honour  and  rever-  Special  rules* 
ence  those  whose  hves  are  conspicuous  for  conduct 
in  keeping  with  their  high  moral  standards,  and  who, 
««  true  patriots,  have  rendered  or  are  now  renderinp' 

15/ 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
imperio  afFectos  observare  et  colere  debemus,  tribu- 
ere  etiam  multum  senectuti,  cedere  iis,  qui  magistra- 
tum  habebuut,  habere  dilectum  civis  et  peregrini  in 
ipsoque  peregrino,  privatimne  an  pubHce  venerit. 
Ad  summam,  ne  agam  de  singuHs,  communem  totius 
generis  hominum  concihationem  et  consociationem 
colere,  tueri,  servare  debemus. 
150  XLII.  lam  de  artificiis  et  quaestibus,  qui  Uberales 
habendi,  qui  sordidi  sint,  haec  fere  accepimus. 
Primum  improbantur  ii  quaestus,  qui  in  odia 
hominum  incuri*unt,  ut  portitorum,  ut  faeneratorum. 
Illiberales  autem  et  sordidi  quaestus  mercennari- 
orum  omnium,  quorum  operae,  non  quorum  artes 
emuntur ;  est  enim  in  ilhs  ipsa  merces  auctora- 
mentum  servitutis.  Sordidi  etiam  putandi,  qui 
mercantur  a  mercatoribus,  quod  statim  vendant ; 
nihil  enim  proficiant,  nisi  admodum  mentiantur ; 
nec  vero  est  quicquam  turpius  vanitate.  Opificesque 
omnes  in  sordida  arte  versantur ;  nec  enim  quic- 
quam  ingenuum  habere  potest  officina.  Minimeque 
artes  eae  probandae,  quae  ministrae  sunt  volup- 
tatum : 
Eunuchus  II.  Ceijirii,  lanif,  coqui,  fartores,  piscatorep 

152 


BOOK  I.  xli-xlii 

eHicient  service  to  their  country^  just  as  much  as  it 
they  were  invested  with  some  civil  or  mihtary  author- 
ity;  it  is  our  duty  also  to  show  proper  respect  to  old 
age,  to  yield  precedence  to  magistrates,  to  make  a 
distinction  bctween  a  fellow-citizen  and  a  foreigner, 
and,  in  the  case  of  the  foreigner  himself,  to  discrimi- 
nate  according  to  whether  he  has  come  in  an  official 
or  a  private  capacity.  In  a  word,  not  to  go  into  de- 
tails,  it  is  our  dutj'^  to  respect,  defend,  and  maintain 
the  common  bonds  of  union  and  fellowship  subsist- 
ing  between  all  the  members  of  the  human  race. 

XLII.  Now  in  regard  to  trades  and  other  means  pccupationsj 
of  Uvehhood,  which  ones  are  to  be  considered 
becoming  to  a  gentleman  and  which  ones  are 
vulgar,  we  have  been  taught,  in  general,  as  follows. 
First,  those  means  of  Uvehhood  are  rejected  as  un- 
desirable  which  incur  people's  ill-will,  as  those 
of  tax-gatherers  and  usurers.  Unbecoming  to  a 
gentleman,  too,  and  vulgar  are  the  means  of  HveH- 
hood  of  all  hired  workmen  whom  we  pay  for  mere 
manual  labour,  not  for  artistic  skill ;  for  in  their 
case  the  very  wages  they  receive  is  a  pledge  of  their 
slavery.  Vulgar  we  must  consider  those  also  who 
buy  from  wholesale  merchants  to  retail  immediately ; 
for  they  would  get  no  profits  without  a  great  deal 
of  downright  lying;  and  verily,  there  is  no  action 
that  is  meaner  than  misrepresentation.  And  all 
mechanics  are  engaged  in  vulgar  trades;  for  no 
workshop  can  have  anything  Hberal  about  it.  Least 
respectable  of  all  are  those  trades  which  cater  to 
sensual  pleasures : 

Fishmongers,  butchers,  cooks,  and  poulterers, 
And  fishermen," 

153 


C.M.  XV-XVII 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
ut  ait  Terentius ;  adde  huc,  si  placet,  unguentarios, 
saltatores  totumque  ludum  talarium. 

151  Quibus  autem  artibus  aut  prudentia  maior  inest 
aut  non  mediocris  utilitas  quaeritur,  ut  medicina, 
ut  architectura,  ut  doctrina  rerum  honestarum,  eae 
sunt  iis,  quorum  ordini  conveniunt,  honestae.  Mer- 
catura  autem,  si  tenuis  est,  sordida  putanda  est ; 
sin  magna  et  copiosa,  multa  undique  apportans 
multisque  sine  vanitate  impertiens,  non  est  admodum 
vituperanda,  atque  etiam,  si  satiata  quaestu  vel 
contenta  potius,  ut  saepe  ex  alto  in  portum,  ex  ipso 
portu  se  in  agros  possessionesque  contuUt,  videtur 
iure  optimo  posse  laudari.  Omnium  autem  rerum, 
ex  quibus  aliquid  acquiritur,  nihil  est  agri  cultura 
melius,  nihil  uberius,  nihil  dulcius,  nihil  homine 
libero^  dignius  ;  de  qua  quoniam  in  Catone  Maiore 
satis  multa  diximus,  illira  assumes,  quae  ad  hunc 
locum  pertinebunt. 

1.52  XLIII.  Sed  ab  iis  partibus,  quae  sunt  honestatis, 
quem  ad  modum  officia  ducerentur,  satis  expositum 
videtur.  Eorum  autem  ipsorum,  quae  honesta  sunt, 
potest  incidere  saepe  contentio  et  comparatio, 
de  duobus  honestis  utrum  honestius,  qui  locus 
a  Panaetio  est  praetermissus.  Nam  cum  omnis 
honestas  manet  a  partibus  quattuor,  quarum  una 
sit  cognitionis,  altera  communitatis,  tertia  magnani- 

'  homine  libcro  Edd. ;  homine  nihil  lihero  B  H  L  a  b  c. 
•  illim  B',  Edd. ;  illum  H  ;  illa  B^  p ;  iUinc  a  b  c ;  illic  L, 

154 


BOOK  I.  xlii-xliii 

as  Terence  says.     Add  to  tlicse,  if  you  please,  the 
perfumers,  dancers,  and  the  whole  corps  de  hallet. 

But  the  professions  in  which  either  a  higher  (2)Uberal 
degree  of  intelHgence  is  required  or  from  which  no 
small  benefit  to  society  is  derived — medicine  and 
architecture,  for  example,  and  teaching — these  are 
proper  for  those  whose  social  position  they  become. 
Trade,  if  it  is  on  a  small  scale,  is  to  be  considered 
vulgar;  but  if  wliolesale  and  on  a  large  scale,  im- 
porting  large  quantities  from  all  parts  of  the  world 
and  distributing  to  many  without  misrepresentation, 
it  is  not  to  be  greatly  disparaged.  Nay,  it  even 
seems  to  deserve  the  highest  respect,  if  those  who 
are  engaged  in  it,  satiated,  or  rather,  I  should  say, 
satisfied  with  the  fortunes  they  have  made,  make 
their  way  from  the  port  to  a  country  estate,  as  they 
have  often  made  it  from  the  sea  into  port.  But  of 
all  the  occupations  by  which  gain  is  secured, 
none  is  better  than  agriculture,  none  more  profit- 
able,  none  more  dehghtful,  none  more  becoming 
to  a  freeman.  But  since  I  have  discussed  this  quite 
fully  in  my  Cato  Major,  you  will  find  there  the 
material  that  apphes  to  this  point. 

XLIII.  Now,  I  think  I  have  explained  fully  Comparative 
enough  how  moral  duties  are  derived  from  the  four  ^^tj]^'*  "* 
divisions  of  moral  rectitude.  But  between  those 
vory  actions  which  are  morally  right,  a  conflict  and 
comparison  may  frequently  arise,  as  to  which  of  two 
moral  actions  is  morally  better — a  point  overlooked  by 
Panaetius.  For,  since  all  moral  rectitude  springs  from 
four  sources  (one  of  which  is  prudence ;  the  second, 
social  instinct ;  the  third,  courage ;  the  fourth,  tem- 

'  The  ludus  talarius  was  a  kind  of  low  variety  show,  with 
loose  songs  and  dances  and  bad  music. 

155 


CICERO  DE  OFFlClIS 

mitatis,  quarta  moderatioiiis,  haec  in  deligendo 
officio  saepe  inter  se  comparentur  necesse  est. 
153  Placet  igitur  aptiora  esse  naturae  ea  officia,  quae 
ex  communitate^  quam  ea,  quae  ex  cognitione 
ducantur,  idque  hoc  ai-gumento  confirmari  potest, 
quod,  si  contigerit  ea  vita  sapienti,  ut  omnium 
rerum  affluentibus  copiis  [quamvis]  omnia,^  quae 
cognitione  digna  sint,  summo  otio  secum  ipse  con- 
sideret  et  contempletur,  tamen,  si  solitudo  tanta 
sit,  ut  hominem  videre  non  possit,  excedat  e  vita, 
Princepsque  omnium  virtutum  illa  sapientia,  quam 
cro4>iav  Graeci  vocant  —  prudentiam  enim,  quam 
Graeci  4>p6vr]criv  dicunt,  aliam  quandam  intellegimus, 
quae  est  rerum  expetendarum  fugiendarumque  scien- 
tia;  illa  autem  sapientia,  quam  principem  dixi,  rerum  est 
divinarum  et  humanai*um  scientia,  in  qua  continetur 
deorum  et  hominum  communitas  et  societas  intcr 
ipsos ;  ea  si  maxima  est,  ut  est  certe,  necesse  est,  quod  a 
communitate  ducatur  officium,  id  esse  maximum.  Ete- 
nim  cognitio  contemplatioque  naturae  manca  quodam 
modo  atque  inchoata  sit,  si  nulla  actio  rerum  consequa- 
tur.  Ea  autera  actio  in  hominum  commodis  tuendis 
maxime  cernitur ;  pertinet  igitur  ad  societatem 
generis  humani ;  ergo  haec  cognitionianteponenda  est. 

^  copiis  \quamvis\  07nma,  Ed. ;  copiis  quamvis  otnnia  MSS. ; 
copiis  omnia  Lambinus,  Bt.,  Miiller,  Heine. 

"Cicero  is  guilty  of  a  curious  fallacy.  If  it  foliows  from 
his  premises,  (i)  some  one  virtue  is  the  highest  virtue,  and 
(2)  the  duties  derived  from  the  highest  virtue  are  the  highcst 
duties,  and  if  (3)  wisdom  is  the  highest  virtue,  then  it  can 
only  follow  that  the  duties  derived  from  wisdom  are  the  high- 
est  duties.  But  Cicero  throws  in  a  fourth  premise  that  the 
*'  bonds  of  union  between  gods  and  men  and  the  relations  of 
man  to  man"  are  derived  from  wisdom,  and  therewith  side- 
tracks  wisdom  and  gives  the  duties  derived  from  the  social 
156 


BOOK  I.  xliii 

per.ance)  it  is  often  necessary  in  deciding  a  question  of 
duty  that  these  virtues  be  weighed  against  one  another. 

My  view,  therefore,  is  that  those  duties  are  closer  J"**^*^ 
to  nature  which  depend  upon  the  social  instinct  Wisdom 
than  those  which  depend  upon  knowledge ;  and  this 
view  can  be  confirmed  by  the  following  argument: 
(l)  suppose  that  a  wise  man  should  be  vouclisafed 
such  a  life  that,  with  an  abundance  of  everything 
pouring  in  upon  him^  he  might  in  perfect  peace 
study  and  ponder  over  everything  that  is  worth 
knowing,  still^  if  the  solitude  were  so  complete  that 
he  could  never  see  a  human  being,  he  would  die. 
And  then,  the  foremost  of  all  virtues  is  wisdom — what 
the  Greeks  call  o-oc^ia;  for  by  prudence,  which  they 
call  <f)p6vr)(Ti<;,  we  understand  something  else,  namely, 
the  practical  knowledge  of  things  to  be  sought  for 
and  of  things  to  be  avoided.  (2)  Again,  that  wisdom 
which  I  have  given  the  foremost  place  is  the  know- 
ledge  of  things  human  and  divine,  which  is  concerned 
also  with  the  bonds  of  union  between  gods  and  men 
and  the  relations  of  man  to  man.  If  wisdom  is  the 
most  important  of  the  virtues^  as  it  certainly  is,  it 
necessarily  follows  that  that  duty  which  is  connected 
with  the  social  obligation  is  the  most  important  duty.* 
And  (3)  service  is  better  than  mere  theoretical  know- 
ledge^  for  the  study  and  knowledge  of  the  universe 
would  somehow  be  lame  and  defective,  were  no  practi- 
cal  results  to  follow.  Such  results,  moreover,  are  best 
seen  in  the  safe-guarding  of  human  interests.  It  is 
essential,  then,to  human  society ;  and  it  should,  there- 

fore,  be  ranked  above  speculative  knowledge. 

instinct  the  place  IVom  wliich  wisdoni  has  been  shunted. 

Cicero  coiild  not  refrain  from  introducing'  a  bit  of 
theoretical  speculation  that  has  no  value  for  his  practical 
position — it  actually  prejudices  it  and  confuses  the  reader. 

157 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

r54  Atque  id  optimus  quisque  re  ipsa  ^  ostendit  et 
iudicat.  Quis  enim  est  tam  cupidus  in  perspicienda 
cognoscendaque  rerum  natura,  ut,  si  ei  tractanti 
contemplantique  res  cognitione  dignissimas  subito 
sit  allatum  periculum  discrimenque  patriae,  cui  sub- 
venire  opitularique  possit,  non  illa  omnia  relinquat 
atque  abiciat,  etiamsi  dinumerare  se  stellas  aut 
metiri  mundi  magnitudinem  posse  arbitretur  ?  atque 
hoc  idem  in  parentis,  in  amici  re  aut  periculo 
fecerit. 

155  Quibus  rebus  intellegitur  studiis  officiisque  sci- 
entiae  praeponenda  esse  officia  iustitiae,  quae  pertinent 
ad  hominum  utiHtatem,^  qua  nihil  homini  esse  debet 
antiquius. 

XLIV.  Atque  illi,  quorum  studia  vitaque  omnis  in 
rerum  cognitione  versata  est,  tamen  ab  augendis 
hominum  utiHtatibus  et  commodis  non  recesserunt; 
nam  et  erudiverunt  multos,  quo  meliores  cives  utili- 
oresque  rebus  suis  pubHcis  essent,  ut  Thebanum 
Epaminondam  Lysis  Pythagoreus,  Syracosium  Dio- 
nem  Plato  multique  multos,  nosque  ipsi,  quicquid  ad 
rem  publicam  attuHmus,  si  modo  aHquid  attuHmus,  a 
doctoribus  atque  doctrina  instructi  ad  eam  et  ornati 

156  accessimus.  Neque  solum  vivi  atque  praesentes 
studiosos  discendi  erudiunt  atque  docent,  sed  hoc 
idem  etiam  post  mortem  monumentis  litterarum 
assequuntur.    Nec  enim  locus  ullus  est  praetermissus 

'  re  ipsa  B  H  a  b,  Bt.,  Ed. ',  re  ab  se  L.C  (i.e.  reapse  Orelli, 
Moller,  Heine);  ab  ipsa  re  p. 
* utilitatem  B  H  a  b;  caritatem  L  c  p  (affection). 

158 


BOOK  I.  xliii-xliv 

4  Upon  this  all  the  best  men  agree,  as  they  prove 
by  their  conduct.  For  who  is  so  absorbed  in  the 
investigation  and  study  of  creation,  but  that,  even 
though  he  were  working  and  pondering  over  tasks 
never  so  much  worth  mastering  and  even  though  he 
thought  lie  could  immber  the  stars  and  measure  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  universe,  he  would  drop 
all  those  problems  and  cast  them  aside,  if  word  were 
suddenly  bi*ought  to  him  of  some  critical  peril  to  his 
country,  which  he  could  relieve  or  repel?  And  he 
would  do  tlie  same  to  further  the  interests  of  parent 
or  friend  or  to  save  him  from  danger. 

From  all  this  we  conclude  that  the  duties  pre- 
scribed  by  justice  must  be  given  precedence  over 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge  and  the  duties  imposed' 
by  it ;  for  the  former  concern  the  welfare  of  our 
fellow-men;  and  nothing  ought  to  be  more  sacred 
in  men's  eyes  than  that. 

XLIV.  And  yet  scholars,  whose  whole  life  and  wisdominthe 
interests  have-been  devoted  to  the  pursuit  of  know-  ju^tice." 
ledge,  have  not,  after  all,  failed  to  eontribute  to  the 
advantages  and  blessings  of  mankind.  For  they  have 
trained  many  to  be  better  citizens  and  to  render 
larger  service  to  their  country.  So,  for  example,  the 
Pythagorean  Lysis  taught  Epaminondas  of  Thebes ; 
Plato,  Dion  of  Syracuse ;  and  many,  many  others.  As 
for  me  myself,  whatever  service  I  have  rendered  to 
my  country — if,  indeed,  I  have  rendered  any— 1 
came  to  my  task  trained  and  equipped  for  it  by  my 

»6  teachers  and  wliat  they  taught  me.  And  not  only  while 
present  in  the  flesh  do  they  teach  and  train  those  who 
are  desirous  of  learning,  but  by  the  written  memorials 
of  their  learning  they  continue  the  same  service  after 
they  are  dead.     For  they  have  overlooked  no  point 

159 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

ab  iis,  qui  ad  leges,  qui  ad  mores,  qui  ad  disciplinam 
rei  publicae  pertineret,  ut  otium  suum  ad  nostrum 
negotium  contulisse  videantur.  Ita  illi  ipsi  doc- 
trinae  studiis  et  sapientiae  dediti  ad  hominum  utili- 
tatem  suam  prudentiam  intellegentiamque  potissi- 
mum  conferunt;  ob  eamque  etiam  causam  eloqui 
copiose,  modo  prudenter,  melius  est  quam  vel  acutis- 
sime  sine  eloquentia  cogitare,  quod  cogitatio  in  se 
ipsa  vertitur,  eloquentia  complectitur  eos,  quibuscum 
communitate  iuncti  sumus. 
1 57  Atque  ut  apium  examina  non  fingendorum  favorum 
causa  congregantur,  sed,  cum  congregabilia  natura 
sint,  fingunt  favos,  sic  homines,  ac  multo  etiam  magis, 
natura  congregati  adhibent  agendi  cogitandique  * 
sollertiam.  Itaque,  nisi  ea  virtus,  quae  constat  ex 
hominibus  tuendis,  id  est  ex  societate  generis 
humani,  attingat  cognitionem  rerum,  solivaga  cogni- 
tio  et  ieiuna  videatur,  itemque  magnitudo  animi 
remota  communitate  coniunctioneque  humana 
feritas  sit  quaedam  et  iraDanitas.  Ita  fit,  ut  vincat 
cognitionis  studium  consociatio  hominum  atque 
communitas. 
lato,  158  Nec  verum  est,  quod  dicitiT  a  quibusdam,  propter 
X/^h .  necessitatem  vitae,  quod  ea,  quae  natura  desideraret, 

Poi*V  consequi    sine    aliis    attiue    efficere    non    possemus, 

'»53  A  idcirco  initam  esse  cum  hominibus  communitatem  et 

societatem;    quodsi    omnia    nobis,  quae   ad   victum 

'  cogitandiqtie  L  c  p,  Edd.  ;  con^regandique  B  H  a  b. 
^communitate  p  (per  compendium),  Bt.'*,  Miiller,  Heine; 
comitate  A  B  H  L  a  b  c, 

J60 


BOOK  I.  xliv 

that  has  a  bearing  upon  laws,  customs,  or  politicai 
science ;  in  fact,  they  seem  to  have  devoted  their  re- 
tirement  to  the  benefit  of  us  who  are  engaged  in 
pubHc  business.  The  principal  thing  done,  thereforej 
by  those  very  devotees  of  the  pursuits  of  learnirig 
and  science  is  to  apply  their  own  practical  wisdom 
and  insight  to  the  service  of  humanity.  And  for  that 
reason  also  much  speaking  (if  only  it  contain  wisdom) 
is  better  than  speculation  never  so  profound  withbut 
speech;  for  mere  speculation  is  self-centred,  while 
speech  extends  its  benefits  to  those  with  whom  we 
are  united  by  the  bonds  of  society.  ^ 

And  again,  as  swarms  of  bees  do  not  gather  for 
the  sake  of  making  honeycomb  but  make  the  honey- 
comb  because  theyare  gregarious  by  nature,so  human 
beings— and  to  a  much  higher  degree — exercise  their 
skill  together  in  action  and  thouglit  because  they  are 
naturally  gregarious.  And  so,  if  that  virtue  [justice]  justicemorfe 
which  centres  in  the  safeguarding  of  human  inter-  wudom  and'' 
ests,  that  is,  in  the  maintenance  of  human  society,  Fortitude. 
were  not  to  accompany  the  pursuit  of  knowledge, 
that  knowledge  would  seem  isolated  and  barren  of 
results.  In  the  same  way,  courage  [Fortitude],  if 
unrestrained  by  the  uniting  bonds  of  society,  would 
be  but  a  sort  of  brutahty  and  savagery.  Hence  it 
follows  that  the  claims  of  human  society  and  the 
bonds  that  unite  men  together  take  precedence  of 
the  pursuit  of  speculative  knowledge. 

And  it  is  not  true,  as  certain  people  maintain,  that 
the  bonds  of  union  in  human  society  were  instituted 
in  order  to  provide  for  the  needs  of  daily  life ;  for, 
they  say,  without  the  aid  of  others  we  could  not 
secure  for  ourselves  or  supply  to  others  the  things 
that  nature  requires;  but  if  all  that  is  essential  to  our 
M  161 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

cultumque  pertinent,  quasi  virgula  divina,  ut  aiunt, 
suppeditarentur,  tum  optimo  quisque  ingenio  negotiis 
omnibus  omissis  totum  se  in  cognitione  et  scientia 
collocaret.  Non  est  ita;  nam  et  solitudinem  fugeret 
et  socium  studii  quaereret,  tum  docere  tum  discere 
vellet,  tum  audire  tum  dicere.  Ergo  omne  officium, 
quod  ad  coniunctionem  hominum  et  ad  societatem 
tuendam  valet,  anteponendum  est  illi  officio,  quod 
cognitione  et  scientia  continetur, 

\59  XLV.  Illud  forsitan  quaerendum  sit,  num  haec 
communitas,  quae  maxime  est  apta  naturae,  sit  etiam 
moderationi  modestiaeque  semper  anteponenda. 
Non  placet;  sunt  enim  quaedam  partim  ita  foeda 
partim  ita  flagitiosa,  ut  ea  ne  conservandae  quidem 
patriae  causa  sapiens  facturus  sit.  Ea  Posidonius 
collegit  permulta,  sed  ita  taetra  quaedam,  ita  ob- 
scena,  ut  dictu  quoque  videantur  turpia.  Haec 
igitur  non  suscipiet  rei  publicae  causa,  ne  res  pubHca 
quidem  pro  se  suscipi  volet.  Sed  Iioc^  commodius 
se  res  habet,  quod  non  potest  accidere  tempus,  ut 
intersit  rei  pubhcae  quicquam  illorum  facerc  sapien- 
tem. 

1 60  Quare  hoe  quidem  effectum  sit,  in  officiis  dcHgendis 
id^  genus  officiorum  excellere,  quod  teneatur  homi- 
num  societate.     [Etenim  cognitionem  prudentiam- 

'  hoc  L  c  p,  Edd. ;  haec  B  H  a  b. 
»  id  a,  Edd. ,  ut  h;  AocB  H  L  c  p. 

162 


BOOK  1.  xliv-xlv 

wants  and  comtbrb  were  supplied  by  some  magic 
wand,  as  in  the  stories,  then  every  man  of  first-rate 
abiUty  could  drop  all  other  responsibility  and  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  learning  and  study.  Not  at 
all.  For  he  would  seek  to  escape  from  his  lonehness 
and  to  find  some  one  to  share  his  studies ;  he  would 
wish  to  teach,  as  well  as  to  learn ;  to  hear,  as  well  as 
to  speak.  Every  duty,  therefore,  that  tends  effect- 
ively  to  maintain  and  safeguard  human  society  should 
be  given  the  preference  over  that  duty  which  arises 
from  speculation  and  science  alone. 

XLV.  The  following  question  should,  perhaps,  be  Justice 
asked :  whether  this  social  instinct,  which  is  the  Temperance. 
deepest  feehng  in  our  nature,  is  always  to  have  prece- 
dence  over  temperance  and  moderation  also.  I  think 
not.  For  there  are  some  acts  either  so  repulsive  or  so 
wicked,  that  a  wise  man  would  not  commit  them, 
even  to  save  his  country.  Posidonius  has  made  a 
large  collection  of  them;  but  some  of  them  are  so 
shocking,  so  indecent,  that  it  seems  immoral  even 
to  mention  them.  The  wise  man,  therefore,  will  not 
think  of  doing  any  such  thing  for  the  sake  of  his 
country;  no  more  will  his  country  consent  to  have 
it  done  for  her.  But  the  problem  is  the  more  easily 
disposed  of  because  the  occasion  cannot  arise  when 
it  could  be  to  the  state's  interest  to  have  the  wise 
man  do  any  of  those  things. 

This,  then,  may  be  regarded  as  settled :  in  choos-  Order  of  prece- 
ing  between  conflicting  duties,  that  class  takes  pre-  ^^"'^^  °*  duties. 
cedence  which   is    demanded    by   the    interests    of 
human  society.    [And  this  is  the  natural  sequence; 
for  discreet  action  will  presuppose  learning  and  prac- 
m2  J63 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

que   sequetur  considerata  aeti(J;    ita    fit,   ut   agere 
considerate  pluris  sit  quam  cogitare  prudenter.]^ 

Atque  haec  quidem  hactenus.  Patefactus  enim 
locus  est  ipse^  ut  non  difficile  sit  in  exquirendo 
officio,  quid  cuique  sit  praeponendum,  videre.  In 
ipsa  autem  communitate  sunt  gradus  officiorum,  ex 
quibus,  quid  cuique  praestet,  ini^llegi  possit,  ut 
prima  dis  immortalibus,  secunda  patriae,  tertia  paren- 
tibus,  deinceps  gradatim  reliquis  debeantur. 
161  Quibus  ex  rebus  breviter  disputatis  intellegi 
potest  non  solum  id  homines  solere  dubitare,  hone- 
stumne  an  turpe  sit,  sed  etiam  duobus  propositis 
honestis  utrum  honestius  sit.  Hic  locus  a  Panaetio 
est,  ut  supra  dixi,  praetermissus.  Sed  iam  ad  reliqua 
pergamus. 

*  Etenim  .  .  .  prudenter  bracketed  by  Unger. 


»«4 


BOOK  1.  xlv 

tical  wisdom;  it  follows,  therefore,  that  discreet 
action  is  of  more  value  than  wise  (but  inactive) 
speculation.J 

So  nuich  must  suffice  for  this  topic.  For,  in  its 
essence,  it  has  been  made  so  clear,  that  in  deter- 
mining  a  question  of  duty  it  is  not  difficult  to 
see  which  duty  is  to  be  preferred  to  any  other. 
Moreover,  even  in  the  social  relations  themselves 
there  are  gradations  of  duty  so  well  defined  that 
it  can  easily  be  seen  which  duty  takes  prece- 
dence  of  any  other :  our  first  duty  is  to  the  immortal 
gods ;  our  second,  to  country ;  our  third,  to  parents ; 
and  so  on,  in  a  descending  scale,  to  the  rest, 

From  this  brief  discussion,  then,  it  can  be  under- 
stood  that  people  are  often  in  doubt  not  only  whether 
an  action  is  morally  right  or  wrong,  but  also,  when 
a  choice  is  offered  between  two  moral  actions,  which 
one  is  morally  better.  This  point,  as  I  remarked 
above,  has  been  overlooked  by  Panaetius.  But  let  us 
now  nass  on  to  what  remains. 


165 


CICERO  DE  OFFICnS 
BOOK  II 

EXPEDIENCY 


LIBER  SECUNDUS 

I.  Quem  ad  modum  officia  ducerentur  ab  hone- 
state,  Marce  fili,  atque  ab  omni  genere  virtutis^  satis 
explicatum  arbitror  libro  superiore.  Sequitur,  ut 
haec  officiorum  genera  persequar,  quae  pertinent  ad 
vitae  cultum  et  ad  earum  rerum,  quibus  utuntur 
homines,  facultatem,  ad  opes,  ad  copias  [;  in  quo  tura 
quaeri  dixi,  quid  utile,  quid  inutile,  tum  ex  utilibus 
quid  utilius  aut  quid  maxime  utile].^  De  quibus 
dicere  aggrediar,  si  pauca  prius  de  instituto  ac  de 
iudicio  meo  dixero. 

Quamquam  enim  Hbri  nostri  complures  non  modo 
ad  legendi,  sed  etiam  ad  scribendi  studium  excitave- 
runt,  tamen  interdum  vere(W„  ae  quibusdam  bonis 
viris  philosophiae  nomen  sit  invisum  niirenturque  in 
ea  tantum  me  operae  et  temporis  ponere. 

Ego  autem,  quam  diu  res  publica  per  eos  gereba- 
tur,  quibus  se  ipsa  commiserat,  omnis  meas  curas 
cogitationesque  in  eam  conferebam ;  cum  autem 
dorainatu  unius  omnia  tenerentur  neque  esset  us- 
quam  consilio  aut  auctoritati  locus,  socios  denique 
tuendae  rei  publieae,  summos  viros,  amisissem,  ncc 
me  angoribus  dedidi,  quibus  essem  confectus,  nisi 

'  in  quo . . .  rnaxime  utile  bracketed  by  Heumann,  Faccio- 
lati,  liiid. ;  tum  ex  .  .  .  maxime  utile  not  in  6  li  a  b. 

168 


BOOK  II 

I.  I  believe,  Marcus,  my  son,  that  I  have  fully  statementol 
explained  in  the  preceding  book  liow  duties  are  s"bject. 
derived  from  moral  rectitude,  or  rather  from  each  of 
virtue's  four  divisions.  My  next  step  is  to  trace  out 
those  kinds  of  duty  which  have  to  do  with  the  com- 
forts  of  Hfe,  with  the  means  of  acquiring  the  things 
that  people  enjoy,  with  influence,  and  with  wealth. 
[in  this  connection,  the  question  is,  as  I  said:  (l) 
what  is  expedient,  and  what  is  inexpedient;  and  (2) 
of  several  expedients,  which  is  of  more  and  which 
of  most  importance.]  These  questions  I  shall  pro- 
ceed  to  discuss,  after  I  have  said  a  few  words  in 
vindication  of  my  present  purpose  and  my  principles 
of  philosophy. 

Although  my  books  have  aroused  in  not  a  few  men  vvhy  cicero 
the  desire  not  only toread  butto  write,  yet  I  sometimes  ^y?''^  °" 
fear  that  what  we  term  philosophy  is  distasteful  to 
certain  worthy  gentlemen,  and  that  they  wonder  that 
I  devote  so  much  time  and  attention  to  it. 

Now,  as  long  as  the  state  was  administered  by  the 
men  to  whose  care  she  had  voluntarily  entrusted 
herself,  I  devoted  all  my  eftbrt  and  thought  to  her. 
But  when  everything  passed  under  the  absolute 
control  of  a  despot  and  there  was  no  longer  any 
room  for  statesmanship  or  authority  of  mine;  and 
finally  when  I  had  lost  the  friends^  who  had  been 
associated  with  me  in  the  task  of  serving  the  interests 
of  the  state,  and  who  were  men  of  the  highest 
standing,  I  did  not  resign  myself  to  grief,  by  which 
I  should  have  been  overwhelmed,  had  I  not  struggled 
'  Such  as  Pompey,  Cato,  Hortensius,  and  Piso. 

169 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
iis  restitissem,  nec  rursum  indignis  homine  docto 
voluptatibus. 

Atque  utinam  res  publica  stetisset,  quo  coeperat, 
statu  nec  in  homines  non  tam  commutandarum 
quam  evertendarum  rerum  cupidos  incidisset  I  Pri- 
mum  enim,  ut  stante  re  publica  facere  solebamus,  in 
agendo  plus  quam  in  scribendo  operae  poneremus, 
deinde  ipsis  scriptis  non  ea,  quae  nunc,  sed  actiones 
nostras  mandaremus,  ut  saepe  fecimus.  Cum  autem 
res  publica,  in  qua  omnis  mea  cura,  cogitatio,  opera 
poni  solebat,  nuUa  esset  omnino,  illae  scilicet  litterae 
eonticucrunt  forenses  et  senatoriae.  Nihil  agere 
autem  cum  animus  non  posset,  in  his  studiis  ab  initio 
versatus  aetatis  existimavi  honestissime  molestias' 
posse  deponi,  si  me  ad  pliilosophiam  rettuHssem. 
Cui  cum  multum  adulescens  discendi  causa  temporis 
tribuissem,  posteaquam  honoribus  inservire  coepi 
meque  totum  rei  publicae  tradidi,  tantum  erat  pliilo- 
sophiae  loci,  quantum  supcrfuerat  amicorum  et  rei 
publicae  temporibus;^  id  autem  omne  consumebatur 
in  legeudo,  scribendi  otium  non  erat. 

II.  Maximis  igitur  in  maUs  hoc  tamen  boni  asse- 
cuti  videmur,  ut  ea  litteris  mandaremus,  quae  nec 
erant  satis  nota  nostris  et  erant  cognitione  dignis- 
sima.  Quid  enim  est,  per  deos,  optabilius  sapientia, 

^  molestias  L  c  p,  Noiiius,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 
"^ teniporibus  Victorius,  Edd. ;  temporis  B  H  a  b;  tempori 
L  c  p. 

170 


BOOK  II.  i-ii 

against  It ;  neitherj  on  the  other  hand^  did  I  sur- 
render  myself  to  a  life  of  sensual  pleasure  unbe- 
coming  to  a  philosopher. 

I  would  that  the  government  had  stood  fast  in 
the  position  it  had  begun  to  assume  and  had  not 
fallen  into  the  hands  of  men  who  desired  not  so 
much  to  reform  as  to  abohsh  the  constitution.  For 
then,  in  the  first  place,  I  should  now  be  devoting 
my  energies  more  to  public  speaking  than  to  writ- 
ing,  as  I  used  to  do  when  the  repubhc  stood ;  and  in 
the  second  place,  I  should  be  committing  to  written 
form  not  these  present  essays  but  my  pubHc  speeches, 
as  I  often  formerly  did.  But  when  the  republic,  to 
which  all  my  care  and  thought  and  eflfbrt  used  to  be 
devoted,  was  no  more,  then,  of  course,  my  voice  was 
silenced  in  the  forum  and  in  fhe  senate.  And  since 
my  mind  could  not  be  wholly  idle,  I  thought,  as  I 
had  been  well-read  along  these  Hnes  of  thought  from 
my  early  youth,  that  the  most  honourable  way  for 
me  to  forget  my  sorrows  would  be  by  turning  to 
philosophy.  As  a  young  man,  I  had  devoted  a  great 
deal  of  time  to  philosophy  as  a  discipHne ;  but  after 
I  began  to  fill  the  high  offices  of  state  and  devoted 
myself  heart  and  soul  to  the  pubHc  service,  there 
was  only  so  much  time  for  philosophical  studies  as 
was  left  over  from  the  claims  of  my  friends  and  of 
the  state ;  aH  of  this  was  spent  in  reading ;  I  had  no 
leisure  for  writing. 

II.  Therefore,  amid  aH   the   present  most  awful  why philosophy 
calamities    I    yet   flatter  myself  that    I   have   won  '*  ^°'^^  whiie. 
this    good    out    of    evil — that    I    may    commit    to 
written    form   matters    not   at  aH    famihar    to  our 
countrymen  but  stiH  very  much  worth  their  know- 
ing.     For  what,  i^i  the  name  of  heaven,  is  more  to 

171 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
quid  praestantius,  quid  homini  melius,  quid  homine 
dignius?  Hanc  igitur  qui  expetunt/  philosophi  no- 
minantur,  nec  quicquam  aliud  est  philosophia,  si 
interpretari  velis,  praeter  studium  sapientiae.  Sapi- 
entia  autem  est,  ut  a  veteribus  philosopliis  definitum 
est,  rerum  divinarum  et  humanarum  causarumque, 
quibus  eae  res  continentur,  scientia;  cuius  studium 
qui   vituperat,   haud   sane    intellego,    quidnam     sit, 

6  quod  laudandum  putet.  Nam  sive  oblectatio  quae- 
ritur  animi  requiesque  curarum,  quae  conferri  cum 
eorum  studiis  potest,  qui  semper  aUquid  anquirunt, 
quod  spectet  et  valeat  ad  bene  beateque  vivendum? 
sive  ratio  constantiae  virtutisqi^e  ducitur,  aut  hc^c 
ars  est  aut  nulla  omnino,  per  quam  eas  assequamur. 
Nullam  dicere  maximarum  rerum  artem  esse,  cum 
minimarum  sine  arte  nuUa  sit,  hominum  est  parum 
considerate  loquentium  atque  in  maximis  rebus 
errantium.  Si  autem  est  ahqua  disciplina  virtutis, 
ubi  ea  quaeretur,  cum  ab  hoc  discendi  genere  disces- 
seris  ? 

Sed  haec,  cum  ad  philosophiam  cohortamur,  accu- 
Eioitensius,  de  ratius    disputari    solent,   quod    alio    quodam    hbro 

Div.,  II,  I 

fecimus;  hoc  autem  tempore  tantum  nobis  decla- 
randum  fuit,  cur  orbati  rei  publicae  muneribus  ad 
hoc  nos  studium  potissimum  contuhssemus. 

7  Occurritur  autem   nobis,   et  quidem  a  doctis  et 

'  expetunt  L  c  p,  Edd. ;  expetant  H ;  expectant  B  a  b. 
172. 


BOOK  II.  U 

be  desired  than  wisdom?  What  is  more  to  be 
prized?  What  is  better  for  a  man,  what  more 
worthy  of  his  nature?  Those  who  seek  after  it  are 
called  philosophers ;  and  philosophy  is  nothing  else, 
if  one  will  translate  the  word  into  our  idiom,  than 

the  love  of  wisdom."  Wisdom,  moreover,  as  the 
word  has  been  defined  by  the  philosophers  of  old,  is 

the  knowledge  of  things  human  and  divine  and  of 
the  causes  by  which  those  things  are  controlled." 
And  if  the  man  hves  who  would  beUttle  the  study  of 
philosophy,  I  quite  fail  to  see  wliat  in  the  world  he 
would  see  fit  to  praise.  For  if  we  are  looking  for 
mental  enjoyment  and  relaxation,  what  pleasure  can 
be  compared  with  the  pursuits  of  those  whoare  always 
studying  out  something  that  will  tend  toward  and 
effectively  promote  a  good  and  happy  Hfe  ?  Or,  if 
regard  is  had  for  strength  of  cliaracter  and  virtue, 
then  this  is  the  method  by  which  we  can  attain  td 
those  qualities,  or  there  is  none  at  all.  And  to  say  that 
there  is  no  method  "  for  securing  the  highest  bless- 
ings,  when  none  even  of  the  least  important  concerns 
is  without  its  method,  is  the  language  of  people  who 
talk  without  due  reflection  and  who  blunder  in  mat- 
ters  of  the  utmost  importance.  Furthermore,  if 
there  is  really  a  way  to  learn  virtue,  where  shall  one 
look  for  it,  when  one  has  turned  aside  from  this 
field  of  learning? 

Now,  wlien  I  am  advocating  the  study  of  philoso- 
phy,  I  usually  discuss  this  subject  at  greater  length, 
as  I  have  done  in  another  of  my  books.  For  the 
present  I  meant  only  to  explain  why,  deprived  of 
the  tasks  of  public  service,  I  have  devoted  myself  to 
this  particular  pursuit. 

But  people  raise  other  objections  against  me — 

173 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

eruditis  quaerentibus,  satisne  eoiistanter  facere  vi- 

deamur,  qui,  cum  percipi  nihil  posse  dicamus,  tamen 

et   aliis   de  rebus   disserere    soleamus  et  hoc  ipso 

tempore  praecepta  officii  persequamur.     Quibus  vel- 

lem  satis  cognita  esset  nostra  sententia.      Non  enim 

sumus  ii,  quorum  vagetur  animus  errore  nec  habeat 

umquam,  quid  sequatur.     Quae  enim  esset  ista  mens 

vel  quae  vita  potius  non  modo  disputandi,  sed  etiam 

vivendi  ratione  sublata?     Nos  autem,  ut  ceteri  alia 

certa,  alia  incerta  esse  dicunt,  sic  ab  his  dissentientes 

alia  probabilia,  contra  alia  dicimus. 

8       Quid  est  igitur,  quod  me  impediat  ea,  quae  proba- 

bilia  mihi  videantur,  sequi,  quae  contra,  improbare 

atque  affirmandi  arrogantiam  vitantem  fugere  teme- 

ritatem,  quae  a  sapientia  dissidet  plurimum  ?    Contra 

autem  omnia  disputatur^  a  nostris,  quod  hoc  ipsum 

probabile  elucere  non  posset,^  nisi  ex  utraque  parte 

causarum  esset  facta  contentio. 

11,  ao  ff.     Sed  haec  explanata  sunt  in  Academicis  nostris 

satis,  ut  arbitror,  diligenter.     Tibi  autem,  mi  Cicero, 

quamquam   in  antiquissima  nobiHssimaque   philoso- 

phia  Cratippo  auctore  versaris  iis  similhmo,  qui  ista 

'  disputatur  Edd. ;  disputantur  MSS. 
"^posset  a  c ;  possit  B  H  b. 
174 


BOOK  II.  ii 

and    that,   too,   philosophers    and    scholars — asking  Position  o<  the 

whether  I  think  I  am  quite  consistent  in  my  con-    "^"    ^^*  ^™^ 

duct :  for  although  our  school  maintains  that  nothing 

can  be  known  for  certain,  yet,  they  urge,  I  make  a 

habit  of  presenting  my  opinions  on  all  sorts  of  sub- 

jects  and  at  this  very  moment  am  trying  to  formulate 

rules  of  duty.     But  I  wish  that  they  had  a  proper 

understanding  of  our  position.     For  we  Academi- 

cians  are  not  men  whose  minds  wander  in  uncer- 

tainty  and  never  know  what  principles  to  adopt. 

For  what  sort  of  mental  habit,  or  rather  what  sort 

of  life  would  that  be  which  should  dispense  with  all 

rules  for  reasoning  or  even  for  living?     Not  so  with 

us;  but,  as  other  schools  maintain  that  some  things 

are    certain,   others    uncertain,  we,    differing    with 

them,  say  that  some  things  are  probable,  others  im- 

probable. 

What,  then,  is  to  hinder  me  from  accepting  what 
seems  to  me  to  be  probable,  while  rejecting  what 
seems  to  be  improbable,  and  from  shunning  the 
presumption  of  dogmatism,  while  keeping  clear  of 
that  recklessness  of  assertion  which  is  as  far  as 
possible  removed  from  true  wisdom?  And  as  to  the 
fact  that  our  school  argues  against  everything,  that 
is  only  because  we  could  not  get  a  clear  view  of 
what  is  probable,"  unless  a  comparative  estimate 
were  made  of  all  the  arguments  on  both  sides. 

But  this  subject  has  been,  I  think,  quite  fuUy  set 
forth  in  my  Academics."  And  althougli,  my  dear 
Cicero,  you  are  a  student  of  that  most  ancient  and 
celebrated  school  of  phikjsophy,  with  Cratippus  as 
your  master— and  he  deserves  to  be  classed  with  the 
founders  of  that  illustrious  sect^ — still  I  wish  our 
'  Aristotle  and  Theophrastus. 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
praeclara  pepererunt,  tamen  haec  nostra  finitima  ve- 
stris  ignota  esse  nolui. 

Sed  iam  ad  instituta  pergamus. 
9  III.  Quinque  igitur  rationibus  propositis  officii 
persequendij  quarum  duae  ad  decus  honestatemque 
pertinerent,  duae  ad  commoda  vitae,  copias,  opes, 
facultates,  quinta  ad  eligendi  iudicium,  si  quando 
ea,  quae  dixi,  pugnare  inter  se  viderentur,  honestatis 
pars  confecta  est,  quam  quidem  tibi  cupio  esse  notis- 
simam. 

Hoc  autem,  de  quo  nunc  agimus,  id  ipsum  est, 
quod  utile"  appellatur.  In  quo  verbo  lapsa  consue- 
tudo  deflexit  de  via  sensimque  eo  deducta  est,  ut 
honestatem  ab  utilitate  secernens  constitueret  esse 
honestum  aliquid,  quod  utile  non  esset,  et  utile, 
quod  non  honestum,  qua  nuUa  pernicies  maior  ho- 
minum  vitae  potuit  afferri. 
10  Summa  quidem  auctoritate  philosophi  severe  sane 
atque  honeste  haec  tria  genera  confusa^  cogitatione 
distinguunt.  [Quicquid  enim  iustum  sit,  id  etiam  utile 
esse  censent,  itemque  quod  honestum,  idem  iustum ; 
ex  quo  efficitur,  ut,  quicquid  honestum  sit,  idem  sit 
utile.]  ^     Quod  qui  parum  perspiciunt,  ii  saepe  versu- 

^  haec  tria  genera  confusa  B  H  a  b,  Bt.^,  Heine;  haec  tria 

5enere  confusa  c,  Bt.*,  Miiller;  haec  tria  genera,  re  confusa 
.  F.  Heusinger. 

"^  Quicquid .  .  .  sit  utile  brackeled  by  Unger,  Bt.^  Miil- 
ler,  Heinf^. 

176 


BOOK  II.  ii-iii 

school,  which  is  closely  related  to  j^ours,  not  to  be 
unknown  to  you. 

Let  us  now  proceed  to  the  task  in  hand. 

III.   Five  principles,  accordingly,  have  been  laid  Expediency  and 

j  /•■1  rji.j.*i'i.i-i  j.      Moral  Rectitude 

aown  lor  the  pursuance  ot  duty :  two  ot  them  have  to  identicai. 
do  with  propriety  and  moral  rectitude ;  two,  with  the 
external  conveniences  of  life — means,  wealth,  influ- 
ence ;  the  fifth,  with  the  proper  choice,  if  ever  the 
four  first  mentioned  seem  to  be  in  conflict.  The 
division  treating  of  moral  rectitude,  then,  lias  been 
completed,  and  this  is  the  part  with  which  I  desire 
you  to  be  most  famihar. 

The  pi*inciple  with  which  we  are  now  deahng  is 
that  one  which  is  called  Expediency.  The  usage 
of  this  word  has  been  corrupted  and  perverted  and 
has  gradually  come  to  the  point  where,  separating 
moral  rectitude  from  expediencj^,  it  is  accepted  that 
a  thing  may  be  morally  right  without  being  expedi- 
ent,  and  expedient  without  being  morally  right.  No 
more  pernicious  doctrine  than  this  could  be  intro- 
duced  into  human  hfe. 

There  are,  to  be  sure,  philosophers  of  the  very 
highest  reputation  who  distinguish  theoretically  be- 
tween  these  three  conceptions,^  although  they  are 
indissolubly  blended  together;  and  they  do  this,  I 
assume,  on  moral,  conscientious  principles.  [For 
whatever  is  just,  they  hold,  is  also  expedient;  and  in 
Uke  manner,  whatever  is  morally  right  is  also  just.  It 
follows,  then,  that  whatever  is  morally  right,  is  also 
expedient.]     Those  who  fail  to  comprehend  that 

^  That  is,  they  make  a  false  distinction  between  (i)  moral 
rectitude  that  is  at  the  same  time  expedient;  (2)  moral 
rectitude  that  is  (apparently)  not  expedient;  and  (3)  the 
expedient  that  is  (apparently)  not  morally  right. 

N  .  177  ' 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

tos  homines  et  callidos  admirantes  malitiam  sapien- 
tiam  iudicant.  Quorum  error  eripiendus  est  opinio- 
que  omnis  ad  eam  spem  traducenda,  ut  honestis 
consiliis  iustisque  factis,  non  fraude  et  mahtia  se  in- 
tellegant  ea,  quae  velint,  consequi  posse. 

1 1  Quae  ergo  ad  vitam  hominum  tuendam  pertinent, 
partim  sunt  inanima,  ut  aurum,  argentum,  ut  ea, 
quae  gignuntur  e  terra,  ut  aha  generis  eiusdem, 
partim  animalia,  quae  habent  suos  impetus  et  rerum 
appetitus.  Eorum  autem  alia^  rationis  expertia  sunt, 
alia  ratione  utentia;  expertes  rationis  equi,  boves, 
reliquae  pecudes,  [apes,]^  quarum  opere  efficitur  ali- 
quid  ad  usum  hominum  atque  vitam ;  ratione  autem 
utentium  duo  genera  ponunt,  deorum  unum,  alterum 
hominum.  Deos  placatos  pietas  efficiet  et  sanctitas, 
proxime  autem  et  secundum  deos  homines  homini- 
bus  maxime  utiles  esse  possunt. 

12  Earumque  item  rerum,  quae  noceant  et  obsint, 
eadem  divisio  est.  Sed  quia  deos  nocere  non  pu- 
tant,  iis  exceptis  homines  hominibus  obesse  plurimum 
arbitrantur. 

Ea  enim  ipsa,  quae  inanima  diximus,  pleraque 
sunt  hominum  operis  effecta ;  quae  nec  haberemus, 
nisi  manus  et  ars  accessisset,  nec  iis  sine  hominum 
administratione  uteremur.  Neque  enim  valetudi- 
nis  curatio  neque  navigatio  neque  agri  cultura 
neque  frugum  fructuumque  reliquorum  perceptio  et 

'  alia  H^  (inserted  above  thc  line)  a,  Edd.;  not  in  B  H'  b; 
tiartim  c. 

^apes  MSS.;  bracketed  by  Facciolati,  Edd. 

178 


BOOK  II.  iii 

theory  do  often,  in  their  admiration  for  shrewd  and 
clever  men,  take  craftiness  for  wisdom.  But  they 
must  be  disabused  of  this  error  and  their  way  of 
thinking  must  be  wholly  converted  to  the  hope  and 
conviction  that  it  is  only  by  moral  character  and 
righteousness,  not  by  dishonesty  and  craftiness,  that 
they  may  attain  to  the  objects  of  their  desires. 

Of  the  things^  then,  that  are  essential  to  the  sus-  ciassificationof 
tenance  of  human  life,  some  are  inanimate  (gold  and  ^^^^  '®°'*' 
silver,  for  example,  the  fruits  of  the  earth,  and  so 
forth),  and  some  are  animate  and  have  their  own 
pecuUar  instincts  and  appetites.  Of  these  again 
some  are  rational,  others  irrational.  Horses,  oxen, 
and  the  other  cattle,  [bees,]  whose  labour  contributes 
more  or  less  to  the  service  and  subsistence  of  man, 
are  not  endowed  with  reason ;  of  rational  beings  two 
divisions  are  made — gods  and  men.  Worship  and 
purity  of  character  will  win  the  favour  of  the  gods  ; 
and  next  to  the  gods,  and  a  close  second  to  them, 
men  can  be  most  helpful  to  men. 

The  same  classification  may  Hkewise  be  made  of 
the  things  that  are  injurious  and  hurtful.  But  as 
people  think  that  the  gods  bring  us  no  harm,  they 
decide  (leaving  the  gods  out  of  the  question)  that 
men  are  most  hurtful  to  men. 

As  for  mutual  helpfulness,  those  very  things  Necessityof 
which  we  have  called  inanimate  are  for  the  most  nets  to^^man? 
part  themselves  produced  by  man's  labours;  we 
should  not  have  them  without  the  application  of 
manual  labour  and  skill  nor  could  we  enjoy  thera 
without  the  intervention  of  man.  And  so  with  many 
other  things :  for  without  man's  industry  there  could 
have  been  no  provisions  for  health,  no  navigation, 
no  agriculture,  no  ingathering  or  storing  of  the 
n2  179 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

conservatio  sine  hominum  opera  ulla  esse  potuisset. 

J  3   lam  vero  et  earum  rerum,  quibus  abundaremus,  ex- 

portatio  et  earum,  quibus  egeremus,  invectio  certe 

nulla  esset,  nisi  his^  muneribus  homines  fungeren- 

tur.     Eademque  ratione  nec  lapides  ex  terra  excide- 

Attius,  Prome-    rentur  ad  usum  nostrum  necessarn,  nec     lerrum,  aes, 

fab"Ribbeck2r'  aurum,  argentum"  efFoderetur  "  penitus  abditum" 

^54  sine  hominum  labore  et  manu. 

IV.  Tecta  vero,  quibus  et  frigorum  vis  pelleretur  et 
calorum  molestiae  sedarentur,  unde  aut  initio  generi 
humano  dari  potuissent  aut  postea  subveniri,^  si  aut  vi 
tempestatis  aut  terrae  motu  aut  vetustate  cecidissent, 
nisi  communis  vita  ab  hominibus  harum  rerum  auxiha 
1 4  petere  didicisset  ?  Adde  ductus  aquarum,  derivationes 
fluminum,  agrorum  irrigationes,  moles  oppositas  flu- 
ctibus,  portus  manu  factos,  quae  unde  sine  hominum 
opere  habere  possemus  ?  Ex  quibus  multisque  ahis 
perspicuum  est,  qui  fructus  quaeque  utihtates  ex  rebus 
iis,  quae  sint  inanimae,  percipiantur,  eas  nos  nullo 
modo  sine  hominum  manu  atque  opera  capere  potuisse. 
Qui  denique  ex  bestiis  fructus  aut  quae  commodi- 
tas,  nisi  homines  adiuvarent,  percipi  posset  ?  Nam 
et  qui  principes  inveniendi  fuerunt,  quem  ex  quaque 
belua  usum  habere  possemus,  homines  certe  fuerunt, 
nec  hoc  tempore  sine  hominum  opera  aut  pascere  eas 
aut  domare  aut  tueri  aut  tempestivos  fructus  ex  iis 
capere  possemus ;  ab  eisdemque  et,  quae  nocent,^  in- 
terficiuntur  et,  quae  usui  possunt  esse,  capiuntur. 
1 5  Quid  enumerem  artium  multitudinem,  sine  quibus 
vita  omnino  nuUa  esse  potjusset  ?     Qui  enim  aegris 

'  kts  H,  Edd. ;  m  B  L  b  ;  htjs  c. 

* subvcniri  L  c,  MuUer,  Heine;  subvenire  B  H  ab,  Bt.,  Ed. 
*  et,  quae  nocent  Rt.'*;  et  eae,  quae  nocent  B  H  b,  Bt,';  ct 
ea  quac  nocent  L;  ea  quae  nocen.  c. 

>80 


BOOK  II.  iii-iv 

3  fruits  of  the  field  or  other  kinds  of  produce.  Then, 
too,  there  would  surely  be  no  exportation  of  our 
superfluous  commodities  or  importation  of  those  we 
lack,  did  not  men  perform  these  services.  By  the 
same  process  of  reasoning,  without  the  labour  of 
man's  hands,  the  stone  needful  for  our  use  would 
not  be  quarried  from  the  earth,  nor  would  iron,  cop- 
per,  gold,  and  silver,  hidden  far  within,"  be  mined. 

IV.  And  how  could  houses  ever  have  been  pro-  Mutuai  heip- 
vided  in  the  first  place  for  the  human  race,  to  keep  to'crv?iizatioa^ 
out  the  rigours  of  the  cold  and  alleviate  the  discom- 
forts  of  the  heat;  or  how  could  the  ravages  of 
furious  tempest  or  of  earthquake  or  of  time  upon 
them  afterward  have  been  repaired,  had  not  the 
bonds  of  social  life  taught  men  in  such  events  to 

4  look  to  their  fellow-men  for  help  ?  Think  of  the 
aqueducts,  canals,  irrigation  works,  breakwaters, 
artificial  harbours ;  how  should  we  have  these 
without  the  work  of  man  ?  From  these  and  many 
other  illustrations  it  is  obvious  that  we  could  not  in 
any  way,  without  the  work  of  man's  hands,  have  re- 
ceived  the  profits  and  the  benefits  accruing  from 
inanimate  things. 

Finally,  of  what  profit  or  service  could  animals  be, 
without  the  co-operation  of  man  ?  For  it  was  men 
who  were  the  foremost  in  discovering  what  use  could 
be  made  of  each  beast ;  and  to-day,  if  it  were  not 
for  man's  labour,  we  could  neither  feed  them  nor 
break  them  in  nor  take  care  of  them  nor  yet  secure 
the  profits  from  them  in  due  season.  By  man,  too, 
noxious  beasts  are  destroyed,  and  those  that  can  be 
of  use  are  captured. 

5  WJiy  should  I  recount  the  multitude  of  arts  without 
which  hfe  would  not  be  worth  living  at  all?     For 

181 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

subveniretur/  quae  esset  oblectatio  valentium,  qui 
victus  aut  cultus,  nisi  tam  multae  nobis  artes  mini- 
strarent  ?  quibus  rebus  exculta  hominum  vita  tantum 
distat^  a  victu  et  cultu  bestiarum.  Urbes  vero  sine 
hominum  coetu  non  potuissent  nec  aedificari  nec 
frequentari ;  ex  quo  leges  moresque  constituti,  tum 
iuris  aequa  discriptio '  certaque  vivendi  disciplina ; 
quas  res  et  mansuetudo  animorum  consecuta  et  vere- 
cundia  est  effectumque^  ut  esset  vita  munitior^  atque 
ut  dando  et  accipiendo  mutuandisque  facultatibus 
et  commodandis*  nulla  re  egeremus. 
16  V.  Longiores  hoc  loco  sumus,  quam  necesse  est. 
Quis  est  enim,  cui  non  perspicua  sint  illa,  quae  phiribus 
verbis  a  Panaetio  commemorantur,  neminem  neque 
ducem  bello  ^  nec  principem  domi  magnas  res  et  salu- 
tares  sine  hominum  studiis  gerere  potuisse?  Com- 
memoratur  ab  eo  Themistocles,  Pericles,  Cyrus, 
Agesilaus,  Alexander,  quos  negat  sine  adiumentis 
hominum  tantas  res  efficere  potuisse.  Utitur  in  re 
non  dubia  testibus  non  necessariis. 

Atque  ut  magnas  utihtates  adipiscimur  conspira- 
tione  hominum  atque  consensu,  sic  nulla  tam  dete- 
stabiHs  pestis  est,  quae  non  homini  ab  homine  nascatur. 
Est  Dicaearchi  Hber  de  interitu  hominum,  Peripate- 
^  qui  .  . .  subvejiiretur  Gernhaird,  Edd. ;  qui  .  .  .  subveniret 
B  H  ;  quis  .  .  .  subveniret  L  c;  quid  .  .  .  subveniret  a  b. 

*  distat  L  c  p,  Miiller,  Heine  ;  destitit  B  H  a  b,  Bt. 
'  discriptio  H  b ;  descriptio  B  a  c. 

*  mutuandisque  facultatibus  et  commodandis  Nonius, 
Bt.*,  Miiller;  mutandisque  facultatibus  et  commodis  MSS., 
Bt.',  Heine. 

»  bello  B  H  a  b,  Muller,  Heine;  bclli  L  c  p,  Bt. 

182 


BOOK  II.  iv-v 

how  would  the  sick  be  healed  ?  What  pleasure 
would  the  well  enjoy  ?  What  comforts  should  we 
liave,  if  there  were  not  so  many  arts  to  minister  to 
our  wants  ?  In  all  these  respects  the  civiHzed  life 
of  nian  is  far  removed  from  the  standard  of  the 
comforts  and  wants  of  the  lower  animals.  And  with- 
out  the  association  of  men,  cities  could  not  have  been 
built  or  peopled.  In  consequence  of  city  Hfe,  laws 
and  customs  were  estabhshed,  and  then  came  the 
equitable  distribution  of  private  rights  and  a  definite 
social  system.  Upon  these  institutions  followed  a 
more  humane  spirit  and  consideration  for  others, 
with  the  result  that  Hfe  was  better  supplied  with  aU 
it  requires,  and  by  giving  and  receiving,  by  mutual 
exchange  of  commodities  and  conveniences,  we 
succeeded  in  meeting  all  our  wants. 

V.  I  have  dwelt  longer  on  this  point  than  was 
necessary.  For  who  is  there  to  whom  those  facts 
which  Panaetius  narrates  at  great  length  are  not 
self-evident — namely,  that  no  one,  either  as  a 
general  in  war  or  as  a  statesman  at  home  could  have 
accompHshed  great  things  for  the  benefit  of  the 
state,  without  the  hearty  co-operation  of  other  men  ? 
He  cites  the  deeds  of  Themistocles,  Pericles,  Cyrus, 
Agesilaus,  Alexander,  who,  he  says,  could  not  liave 
achieved  so  great  success  without  the  support  of 
other  men.  He  calls  in  witnesses,  whom  he  does 
not  need,  to  prove  a  fact  that  no  one  questions. 

And  yet,  as,  on  the  one  hand,  we  secure  great  Man'shurtfui- 
advantages  tlirough  the  sympathetic  co-operation  of  "^^^* '°  ™*°' 
our  fellow-men ;  so,  on  the  other,  tliere  is  no  curse 
so  terrible  but  it  is  brought  down   by   man   upon 
man.     There  is  a  book  by  Dicaearchus  on      The 
Destruction  of  Human   Life."     He  was  a   famous 

183 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

tici  magni  et  copiosi,  qui  collectis  ceteris  causis 
eluvionis^  pestilentiae^  vastitatis,  beluarum  etiam 
repentinae  multitudinis,  quarum  impetu  docet  quae- 
dam  hominum  genera  esse  consumpta,  deinde  com- 
pai'at,  quanto  plures  deleti  sint  homines  hominum 
impetu,  id  est  bellis  aut  seditionibus,  quam  omni 
reliqua  calamitate. 

1 7  Cum  igitur  hic  locus  nihil  habeat  dubitationis,  quin 
homines  plurimum  hominibus  et  prosint  et  obsint, 
proprium  hoc  statuo  esse  virtutis,  conciliare  animos 
hominum  et  ad  usus  suos  adiungere.  Itaque,  quae 
in  rebus  inanimis  quaeque  in  usu  et^  tractatione 
beluarum  fiunt  utiliter  ad  hominum  vitam,  artibus  ea 
tribuuntur  operosis,  hominum  autem  studia  ad  am- 
pHficationem  nostrarum  rerum  prompta  ac  parata 
[virorum  praestantiumj  ^  sapientia  et  virtute  excitan- 

1 8  tur.     Etenim  virtus  omnis  tribus  in  rebus  fere  ver- 

titur,  quarum  una  est  in  perspiciendo,  quid  in  quaque 

re  verum  sincerumque  sit,  quid  consentaneum  cuique, 

quid  consequens,  ex  quo  quaeque  gignantur,  quae 

cuiusque  rei  causa  sit,  alterum  cohibere  motus  animi 

turbatos,  quos  Graeci  TrdOr]  nominant,  appetitiones- 

que,   quas  illi   opfids,    oboedientes    efficere   rationi, 

tertium  iis,  quibuscum  congregemur,  uti  moderate 

et  scienter,  quorum  studiis  ea,  quae  natura  desiderat, 

expleta  cumulataque  habeamus,  per  eosdemque,  si 

quid    importetur    nobis     incommodi,     propulsemus 

ulciscamurque    eos,  qui   nocere    nobis    conati    sint, 

'  usu  ^^  L  c  p  ;  not  in  B  H  a  b  ;  bracketed  by  Bt.' 
*  virorunt  praestantium  bracketed  by  Ed. 

184 


BOOK  II.  V 

and  eloquent  Peripatetic  and  he  gathered  together 
all  the  other  causes  of  destruction — floods,  epidemics, 
famines,  and  sudden  incursions  of  wild  animals  in 
myriadSj  by  whose  assaults,  he  informs  us,  whole 
tribes  of  men  have  been  wiped  out.  And  then  he 
proceeds  to  show  by  way  of  comparison  how  many 
more  men  have  been  destroyed  by  the  assaults 
of  men — that  is,  by  wars  or  revolutions — than  by 
any  and  all  other  sorts  of  calamity. 

Since,  therefore,  there  can  be  no  doubt  on  thisCo-operationand 
pointj  that  man  is  the  source  of  both  the  greatest 
help  and  the  greatest  harm  to  man,  I  set  it  down  as 
the  peculiar  function  of  virtue  to  win  the  hearts  of 
men  and  to  attach  them  to  one's  own  service.  And 
so  those  benefits  that  human  life  derives  from  inani- 
mate  objects  and  from  the  employment  and  use  of 
animals  are  ascribed  to  the  industrial  arts ;  the 
co-operation  of  men,  on  the  other  hand,  prompt  and 
ready  for  the  advancement  of  our  interests,  is  secured 
through  wisdom  and  virtue  [in  men  of  superior 
abiUty].  And,  indeed,  virtue  in  general  may  be 
said  to  consist  almost  wholly  in  three  properties : 
the  first  is  [Wisdom,]  the  abihty  to  perceive  what  in 
any  given  instance  is  true  and  real,  what  its  relations 
are,  its  consequences,  and  its  causes;  the  second  is 
[Temperance,]  the  ability  to  restrain  the  passions 
(which  the  Greeks  call  TrdOr])  and  make  the  impulses 
{opfiai)  obedient  to  reason;  and  the  third  is  [jus- 
tice,]  the  skill  to  treat  with  consideration  and 
wisdom  those  with  whom  we  are  associated,  in  order 
that  we  may  through  their  co-operation  have  our 
natural  wants  supplied  in  full  and  ovei^flowing  mea- 
sure,  that  we  may  ward  off"  any  impending  trouble, 
avenge  ourselves  upon  those  who  have  attempted  to 

185 


CICERO  DE  OFFICnS 
tantaque  poena  afficiamus,  quantam  aequitas  huma- 
nitasque  patitur. 

19  VI,  Quibus  autem  rationibus  hano  facultatem 
assequi  possimus,  ut  hominum  studia  complectamur 
eaque  teneamus,  dicemus,  neque  ita  multo  post,  sed 
pauca  ante  dicenda  sunt. 

Magnam  vim  esse  in  fortuna  in  utramque  partem, 
vel  secundas  ad  res  vel  adversas,  quis  ignorat  ?  Nam 
et,  cum  prospero  flatu  eius  utimur,  ad  exitus  perve- 
himur  optatos  et,  cum  reflavit,  affligimur.  Haec 
igitur  ipsa  fortuna  ceteros  casus  rariores  habet,  pri- 
mum  ab  inanimis  procellas,  tempestates,  naufragia, 
ruinas,  incendia,  deinde  a  bestiis  ictus,  morsus,  im- 

20  petus ;  haec  ergo,  ut  dixi,  rariora.  At  vero  interitus 
exercituum,  ut  proxime  trium,  saepe  multorum,  cla- 
des  imperatorum,  ut  nuper  summi  et  singularis  viri, 
invidiae  praeterea  multitudinis  atque  ob  eas  bene 
meritorum  saepe   civium    expulsiones,   calamitates, 

,  fugae,  rursusque  secundae  res,  honores,  imperia, 
victoriae,  quamquam  fortuita  sunt,  tamen  sine  ho- 
minum  opibus  et  studiis  neutram  in  partem  effici 
possunt. 

Hoc  igitur  cognito  dicendum  est,  quonam  modo 
hominum  studia  ad  utilitates  nostras  allicere  atque 
excitare   possimus.      Quae   si   longior   fuerit  oratio, 
\86 


BOOK  II.  v-vi 

injure  us,  and  visit  them  with  such  retribution  as 
justice  and  humanity  will  permit. 

1 9  VI.  I  shall  presently  discuss  the  means  by  which  we 
can  gain  the  abihty  to  win  and  hold  the  afFections  of 
our  fellow-men ;  but  I  must  say  a  few  words  by  way 
of  preface. 

Who  fails  to  comprehend  the  enormous^  two-fold  Co-operation 
power  of  Fortune  for  weal  and  for  woe?  When  we  Fortune. 
enjoy  her  favouring  breeze,  we  are  wafted  over  to 
the  wished  for  haven ;  wlien  she  blows  against  us, 
we  are  dashed  to  destruction.  Fortune  herself, 
then,  does  send  tiiose  other  less  usual  calamities, 
arising,  first,  from  inanimate  nature — hurricanes, 
storms,  shipwrecksj  catastrophes,  conflagrations ; 
second,  from  wild  beasts — kicks,  bites,  and  attacks. 
But  these,  as  I  have  said,  are  comparatively  rare. 

20  But  think,  on  the  one  side,  of  the  destruction  of 
armies  (three  lately,  and  many  others  at  many  dif- 
ferent  times),  the  loss  of  generals  (of  a  very  able  and 
eminent  commander  recently),  the  hatred  of  the 
masses,  too,  and  the  banishment  that  as  a  conse- 
quence  frequently  coroes  to  men  of  eminent  ser- 
vices,  their  degradation  and  voluntary  exile  ;  think, 
on  the  other  hand,  of  the  successes,  the  civil  and 
mihtary  honours,  and  the  victories ; — though  all 
these  contain  an  element  of  chance,  still  they 
cannot  be  brought  about,  whether  for  good  or  for 
ill,  without  the  influence  and  the  co-operation  of  our 
fellow-men. 

With  this  understanding  of  the  influence  of  For- 
tune,  I  may  proceed  to  explain  how  we  can  win  the 
affectionate  co-operation  of  our  fellows  and  enhst  it 
in  our  service.  And  if  the  discussion  of  this  point 
is  unduly   prolonged,  let  the  length  be  compared 

187 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
cum  magnitudine  utilitatis  comparetur;  ita  fortasse 
etiam  brevior  videbitur. 

21  Quaeeumque  igitur  homines  homini  tribuunt  ad 
eum  augendum  atque  honestandum,  aut  benivolen- 
tiae  gratia  faciunt,  cum  aliqua  de  causa  quempiam 
diligunt,  aut  honoris,  si  cuius  virtutem  suspiciunt, 
quemque  dignum  fortuna  quam  amphssima  putant, 
aut  cui  fidem  habent  et  bene  rebus  suis  consulere 
arbitrantur,  aut  cuius  opes  metuunt,  aut  contra,  a 
quibus  ahquid  exspectant,  ut  cum  reges  popularesve 
homines  largitiones  ahquas  proponunt,  aut  postremo 
pretio  ac  mercede  ducuntur,  quae  sordidissima  est 
illa  quidem  ratio  et  inquinatissima  et  iis,  qui  ea 
tenentur,  et  ilh's,  qui  ad  eam^  confugere  conantur; 

22  male  enim  se  res  habet,  cum,  quod  virtute  effici  de- 
bet,  id  temptatur  pecunia.  Sed  quoniam  non  num- 
quam  hoc  subsidium  necessarium  est,quem  ad  modum 
sit  utendum  eo,  dicemus,  si  prius  iis  ^  de  rebus,  quae 
virtuti  propiores  sunt,  dixerimus. 

Atque  etiam  subiciunt  se  homines  imperio  alterius 
et  potestati  de  causis  pluribus.  Ducuntur  enim  aut 
benivolentia  aut  beneficiorum  magnitudine  aut  digni- 
tatis  praestantia  aut  spe  sibi  id  utile  futurum  aut 
metu,   ne    vi   parere    cogantur,  aut  spe    largitionis 

'  eam  c,  Edd. ;  ^a  B  H  a  b. 
^  iis  Edd.  ;  his  B  H  a  b  ;  hijs  c. 
188 


BOOK  II.  vi 

with  the  importance  of  the  object  in  view.     It  will 
then,  perhaps,  seem  even  too  short. 

Whenever,  then,  people  bestow  anything  upon  how  men  a-.? 
a  fellow-man  to  raise  his  estate  or  his  dignity,  anothe^^s""'^'* 
it  may  be  from  any  one  of  several  motives  :  (l )  interests. 
it  may  be  out  of  good-will,  when  for  some  reason 
they  are  fond  of  him ;  (2)  it  may  be  from  es- 
teem,  if  they  look  up  to  his  worth  and  think  him 
deserving  of  the  most  splendid  fortune  a  man  can 
have  ;  (.s)  they  may  have  confidence  in  him  and  think 
that  they  are  thus  acting  for  their  own  interests ;  or 
(4)  they  may  fear  his  power ;  (5)  they  may,  on  the 
contrary,  hope  for  some  favour — as,  for  example,  when 
princes  or  demagogues  bestow  gifts  of  money ;  or, 
finally,  (6)  they  may  be  moved  by  the  promise  of 
payment  or  reward.  This  last  is,  I  admit,  the 
meanest  and  most  sordidmotive  of  all,  both  for  those 
who  are  swayed  by  it  and  for  those  who  venture  to 
resort  to  it.  For  things  are  in  a  bad  way,  when  that 
which  should  be  obtained  by  merit  is  attempted 
by  money.  But  since  recourse  to  tliis  kind  of  sup- 
port  is  sometimes  indispensable,  I  shall  explain 
how  it  should  be  employed;  but  first  I  shall 
discuss  those  quaUties  which  are  more  closely  aUiec 
to  merit. 

Now,  it  is  by  various  motives  that  people  are  led 
to  submit  to  another's  authority  and  power:  they 
may  be  influenced  (l)  by  good-will ;  (s)  by  gratitude 
for  generous  favours  conferred  upon  them  ;  (s)  by  the 
eminence  of  that  other's  sociai  position  or  by  the  hope 
that  their  submission  will  turn  to  their  own  account ; 
(4)  by  fear  that  they  may  be  compelled  perforce  to 
submit ;  (5)  they  may  be  captivated  by  the  hope  of 
gifts  of  money  and  by  hberal  promises ;  or,  finally, 

189 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

promissisque  ^  capti  aut  postremo,  ut  saepe  in  nostra 
re  publica  videmus,  mercede  conducti. 

VII.  Omnium  autem  rerum  nec  aptius  est  quic- 
quam  ad  opes  tuendas  ac  tenendas  quam  diligi  nec 
alienius  quam  timeri.      Praeclare  enim  Ennius : 

Quem  metuunt,  oderunt;  quem  quisque  odit,  peri- 
isse  expetit. 

Multorum  autem  odiis  nullas  opes  posse  obsistere,  si 
antea  fuit  ignotum,  nuper  est  cognitum.  Nec  vero 
huius  tyranni  solum,  quem  armis  oppressa  pertulit 
civitas  ac  paret  cum  maxime  mortuo,^  interitus 
declarat,  quantum  odium  hominum  valeat  ad  pestem, 
sed  reliquorum  similes  exitus  tyrannorum,  quorum 
haud  fere  quisquam  talem  interitum  effugit;  malus 
enim  est  custos  diuturnitatis  metus  contraque  beni- 
volentia  fidelis  vel  ad  perpetuitatem. 
24  Sed  iis,  qui  vi  oppressos  imperio  coercent,  sit  sane 
adhibenda  saevitia,  ut  eris*  in  famulos,  si  aliter 
teneri  non  possunt;  qui  vero  in  libera  civitate  ita  se 
instruunt,  ut  metuantur,  iis^  nihil  potest  esse  demen- 
tius.  Quamvis  enim  sint  demersae  leges  ahcuius 
opibus,  quamvis  timefacta  libertas,  emergunt  tamen 
haec  ahquando  aut  iudiciis  tacitis  aut  occultis  de 
honore  sufFragiis.    Acriores  autem  morsus  sunt  inter- 

^  proniissisque  L  c,  Edd. ;  promissionisque  B  H  a  b  ;  pro- 
missionibnsque  alii. 

"^  ac  paret  cum  viaxime  mortuo,  Halm,  Miiller,  Heine  ; 
paretque  cum  maxime  mortuo  c',  Bt. ;  paretque,  c.  m.  m.  L  ; 
apparet,  cuius  maxime  mortui  b ;  apparet  cuius  maxime 
portui  B  H  a. 

^  valeat  c  ;  valet  B  H  a  b. 

*  ut  eris  Baiter;  ut  eriis  B;  uteris  L  ;  utere  hiis  H  ;  utere 
iis  b  ;  utere  his  a  ;  utantur  eis  c. 

^  iis  Edd. ;  his  B  H  L  a  ;  hijs  c  ;  hiis  b. 

190 


BOOK  II.  vi-vii 

(6)  they  may  be  bribed  with  money,  as  we  have  fre- 
quently  seen  in  our  own  country. 

VII.  But  of  all  motives,  none  is  better  adapted  to  Themotiveot 
secure  influence  and  hold  it  fast  than  love  ;  nothing  \lll'''-  "^^'°* 
is  more  foreign  to  that  end  than  fear.      For  Ennius 
says  admirably : 
"  Whom  they  fear  they  hate.    And  whom  one  hates, 

one  hopes  to  see  him  dead." 
And  we  recently  discovered,  if  it  was  not  known  be- 
fore,  that  no  amount  of  power  can  withstand  th  e  hatred 
of  the  many.     The  death  of  this  tyrant,^  whose  yoke  Hatredof 
the  state  endured  under  the   constraint   of  armed  'y'^*""^* 
force  and  whom  it  still  obeys  more  humblj'  than 
ever,  though  he  is  dead,  illustrates  the  deadly  effects 
of  popular  hatred ;  and  the  same  lesson  is  taught  by 
the  similar  fate  of  all  other  despots,  of  whom  practi- 
cally  no  one  has  ever  escaped  such  a  death.     For 
fear  is  but  a  poor  safeguard  of  lasting  power;  while 
affection,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be  trusted  to  keep 
it  safe  for  ever. 

But  those  who  keep  subjects  in  check  by  force 
would  of  course  have  to  employ  severity — masters,  for 
example,  toward  their  servants,  when  these  cannot 
be  held  in  control  in  any  other  way.  But  those  who 
in  a  free  state  deliberatelj'  put  themselves  in  a 
position  to  be  feared  are  the  maddest  of  the  mad. 
For  let  the  laws  be  never  so  much  overborne  by  some 
one  individuaFs  power,  let  the  spirit  of  freedom  be 
never  so  intimidated,  still  sooner  or  later  they  assert 
themselves  either  through  unvoiced  public  sentiment, 
or  through  secret  ballots  disposing  of  some  high 
office  of  state.  Freedom  suppressed  and  again  re- 
gained  bites  witli  keener  fangs  than  freedom  never 
^  Julius  Caesar. 

191 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

missae  libertatis  quam  retentae.  Quod  igitur  latis- 
sime  patet  neque  ad  incolumitatem  solum,  sed  etiam 
ad  opes  et  potentiam  valet  plurimum,  id  amplecta- 
mur,  ut  metus  absit,  caritas  retineatur.  Ita  facillime, 
quae  volemus,  et  privatis  in  rebus  et  in  re  publica 
consequemur. 

Etenim  qui  se  metui  volent,  a  quibus  metuentur, 

25  cosdem  metuant  ipsi  necesse  est.  Quid  enim  cense- 
mus  superiorem  illum  Dionysium  quo  cruciatu  timoris 
angi  solitum,  qui  cultros  metuens  tonsorios  candente 
carbone  sibi  adurebat  capillum?  quid  Alexandrum 
Pheraeum  quo  animo  vixisse  arbitramur?  qui,  ut 
scriptum  legimus,  cum  uxorem  Theben  admodum 
diligeret,  tamen  adeamex  epulis  incubiculumveniens 
barbarum,  et  eum  quidem,  ut  scriptum  est,  compun- 
ctum  notis  Thraeciis,  destricto  gladio  iubebat  anteire 
praemittebatque  de  stipatoribus  suis,  qui  scrutarentur 
arculas  muHebres  et,  ne  quod  in  vestimentis  telum 
occultaretur,  exquirerent.  O  miserum,  qui  fideHorem 
et  barbarum  et  stigmatiam  putaret  quam  coniugem ! 
Nec  eum  fefelHt ;  ab  ea  est  enim  ipsa  propter  peH- 
catus  suspicionem  interfectus. 

Nec  vero  ulla  vis  imperii  tanta  est,  quae  premente 

26  metu  possit  esse  diuturna.  Testis  est  Phalaris,  cuius 
est  praeter  ceteros  nobiHtata  crudeHtas,  qui  non  ex 
insidiis  interiit,  ut  is,  quem  modo  dixi,  Alexander, 
non  a  paucis,  ut  hic  noster,  sed  in  quem  universa 
Agrigentinorum  multitudo  impetum  fecit. 

Quid?     Macedones  nonne  Demetrium  reHquerunt 
192 


BOOK  II.  vii 

endangered.  Let  us,  then,  embrace  this  policy,  which 
appeals  to  every  heart  and  is  the  strongest  support 
not  only  of  security  but  also  of  influence  and  power 
— namely,  to  banish  fear  and  cleave  to  love.  And 
thus  we  shall  most  easily  secure  success  both  in  pri- 
vate  and  in  public  life. 

Furthermore,  those  who  wish  to  be  feared  must  in- 
evitably  be  afraid  of  those  whom  they  intimidate. 
What,  for  instance,  shall  we  think  of  the  elder  Diony-  The  wretched- 
sius  ?  With  what  tormenting  fears  he  used  to  be 
racked  !  For  through  fear  of  the  barber's  razor  he 
used  to  have  his  hair  singed  offwith  a  glowing  coal.  In 
what  state  of  mind  do  we  fancy  Alexander  of  Pherae 
lived  ?  We  read  in  history  that  he  dearly  loved  his 
wife  Thebe ;  and  yet,  whenever  he  went  from  the 
banquet  hall  to  her  in  her  chamber,  he  used  to  order 
a  barbarian — one,  too,  tattooed  hke  a  Thracian,  as 
the  records  state — to  go  before  him  with  a  drawn 
sword  ;  and  he  used  to  send  ahead  some  of  his  body- 
guard  to  pry  into  the  lady's  caskets  and  to  search  and 
see  whether  some  weapon  were  not  concealed  in  her 
wardrobe.  Unhappy  man !  To  think  a  barbarian,  a 
branded  slave,  more  faithful  than  his  own  wife !  Nor 
was  he  mistaken.  For  he  was  murdered  by  her  own 
hand,  because  she  suspected  him  of  infideUty. 

And  indeed  no  power  is  strong  enough  to  be  last- 
ing,  if  it  labours  under  the  weight  of  fear.  Witness 
Phalaris,  whose  cruelty  is  notorious  beyond  that  of 
all  others.  He  was  slain,  not  treacherously  (hke  tliat 
Alexander  whom  I  named  but  now),  not  by  a  few 
conspirators  (hke  that  tyrant  of  ours),  but  the  whole 
population  of  Agrigentum  rose  against  him  with  one 
accord. 

Again,  did  rrot  the  Maeedonians  abandon  Deme- 
o  193 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
universique    se    ad    Pyrrhum    contulerunt?     Quid? 
Lacedaemonios  iniuste   imperantes   nonne   repente 
omnes  fere  socii  deseruerunt  spectatoresque  se  otiosos 
praebuerunt  Leuctricae  calamitatis? 

VIIL  Externa  libentius  in  tali  re  quam  domestica 
recordor.  Verum  tamen,  quam  diu  imperium  populi 
Romani  beneficiis  tenebatur,  non  iniuriis,  bella  aut 
pro  sociis  aut  de  imperio  gerebantur,  exitus  erant 
bellorum  aut  mites  aut  necessarii,  regum,  populo- 
rum,  nationum  portus  erat  et  refugium  senatus, 
27  nostri  autem  magistratus  impei*atoresque  ex  hac  una 
re  maximam  laudem  capere  studebant,  si  provincias, 
(27)  si  socios  aequitate  et  fide  defendissent ;  itaque  illud 
patrocinium  orbis  terrae  verius  quam  imperium  po- 
terat  nominari. 

Sensim  hanc  consuetudinem   et  disciplinam   iam 

antea  minuebamus,  post  vero  Sullae  victoriam  peni- 

tus  amisimus ;  desitum  est  enim  videri  quicquam  in 

socios  iniquum,  cum  exstitisset  in  cives  tanta  crudeU- 

tas.     Ergo  in  illo  secuta  est  honestam  causam  non 

honesta  victoria  ;  est  enim  ausus  dicere,  hasta  posita 

cum  bona  in  foro   venderet   et   bonorum   virorum 

et  locupletium  et  certe  civium^  "praedam  se  suam 
194 


BOOK  II.  vii-viii 

trius  and  march  over  as  one  man  to  Pyrrhus  ?  And 
again,  when  the  Spartans  exercised  their  supremacy 
tyrannically^  did  not  practically  all  the  allies  desert 
them  and  view  their  disaster  at  Leuctra^  as  idle 
spectators  ? 

VIII.  I  prefer  in  this  connection  to  draw  my  The  oid 
illustrations  from  foreign  history  rather  than  from  ne^w"despotism. ' 
our  own.  Let  me  add,  however,  that  as  long  as  the 
empire  of  the  Roman  People  maintained  itself  by 
acts  of  service,  not  of  oppression,  wars  were  waged 
in  the  interest  of  our  alhes  or  to  safeguard  our 
supremacy ;  the  end  of  our  wars  was  marked  by  acts 
of  clemency  or  by  only  a  necessary  degree  of  severity ; 
the  senate  was  a  haven  of  refuge  for  kings,  tribes, 

27  and  nations;  and  the  highest  ambition  of  our  magis- 
trates  and  generals  was  to  defend  our  provinces  and 

27)  alUes  with  justice  and  honour.  And  so  our  govern- 
ment  could  be  called  more  accurately  a  protectorate 
of  the  world  than  a  dominion. 

This  policy  and  practice  we  had  begun  gradually 
to  modify  even  before  Sulla's  time;  but  since  his 
victory  we  have  departed  from  it  altogether.  For 
the  time  had  gone  by  when  any  oppression  of  the 
allies  could  appear  wrong,  seeing  that  atrocities  so 
outrageous  were  committed  against  Roman  citizens. 
In  Sulla's  case,  therefore,  an  unrighteous  victory 
disgraced  a  righteous  cause.  For  when  he  had 
planted  his  spear^  and  vvas  selling  under  the  hammer 
in  the  forum  the  property  of  men  who  were  patriots 
and  men  of  wealth  and,  at  least,  Roman  citizens,  he 
had  the  effrontery  to  announce  tliat     he  was  selling 

'The  Romans  were  accustomed  to  set  up  a  spear  as  a 
sign  of  an  auction-sale — a  symbol  derivcd  from  the  sale  of 
booty  taken  in  war. 

o2  1 95 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

vendere."  Secutus  est,  qui  in  causa  impia,  victoria 
etiam  foediore  non  singulorum  civium  bona  publica- 
ret,  sed  universas  provincias  regionesque  uno  calami- 
tatis  iure  comprehenderet. 

28  Itaque  vexatis  ac  perditis  exteris  nationibus  ad 
exemplum  amissi  imperii  portari  in  triumpho  Massi- 
Ham  vidimus  et  ex  ea  urbe  triumphari,  sine  qua  num- 
quam  nostri  imperatores  ex  Transalpinis  belHs 
triumpharunt.  Multa  praeterea  commemorarem  ne- 
faria  in  socios,  si  hoc  uno  quicquam  sol  vidisset 
indignius.  lure  igitur  plectimur.  Nisi  enim  multo- 
rum  impunita  scelera  tuHssemus,  numquam  ad  unum 
tanta  pervenisset  Hcentia  ;  a  quo  quidem  rei  famiH- 
aris    ad    paucos,   cupiditatum   ad   multos  improbos 

29  venit  hereditas.  Nec  vero  umquam  bellorum  civiHum 
semen  et  causa  deerit,  dum  homines  perditi  hastam 
illam  cruentam  et  meminerint  et  sperabunt ;  quam 
R^  Sulla  cum  vibrasset  dictatore  propinquo  suo, 
idem  sexto  tricesimo  anno  post  a  sceleratiore  hasta 
non  recessit ;  alter  autem,  qui  in  illa  dictatura  scriba 
fuerat,  in  hac  fuit  quaestor  urbanus.  Ex  quo  debet 
iiitellegi  taHbus  praemiis  propositis  numquam  de- 
futura  bella  civilia. 

Itaque  parietes  modo  urbis  stant  et  manent,  iique 
ipsi  iam  extrema  scelera  metuentes,  rem  vero  pubH- 
cam  penitus  amisimus.  Atque  in  has  clades  incidimus 
(redeundum  est  enim  ad  propositum),  dum  metui 

'  P.  c,  Edd, ;  Z.  B  H  a  b. 
^96 


BOOK  II.  viii 

his  spoils."  After  him  came  one  who,  in  an  unholy 
cause,  made  an  even  more  shameful  use  of  victory; 
for  he  did  not  stop  at  confiscating  the  property  of 
individual  citizens,  but  actually  embraced  whole 
provinces  and  countries  in  one  common  ban  of  ruin. 

28  And  so,  when  foreign  nations  had  been  oppressed 
and  ruined,  we  have  seen  a  model  of  Marseilles  carried 
in  a  triumphal  procession,  to  serve  as  proof  to  the  world 
that  the  supremacy  of  the  people  had  been  forfeited  ; 
and  that  triumph  we  saw  celebrated  over  a  city  with- 
out  whose  help  our  generals  have  never  gained  a 
triumph  for  their  wars  beyond  the  Alps.  I  might 
mention  many  other  outrages  against  our  allies,  if 
the  sun  had  ever  beheld  anything  more  infamous 

than   this    particular    one.      Justly,    therefore,    are  The  wages  of 
we  being  punished.     For  if  we  had  not  allowed  the  ^^^^'"^ °^ ^°'^'" 
crimes  of  many  to  go  unpunished,  so  great  licence 
would  never  have  centred  in  one  individual.     His 
estate  descended  by  inheritance  to  but  a  few  indi- 

29  viduals,  his  ambitions  to  many  scoundrels.  And 
never  will  the  seed  and  occasion  of  civil  war  be 
wanting,  so  long  as  villains  remember  that  blood- 
stained  spear  and  hope  to  see  anotlier.  As  Pubhus 
Sulla  wielded  that  spear,  when  his  kinsman  was 
dictator,  so  again  thirty-six  years  later  he  did  not 
shrink  from  a  still  more  criminal  spear.  And  still  an- 
other  SuIIa,  who  was  a  mere  clerk  under  the  former 
dictatorship,  was  under  the  later  one  a  city  quaestor. 
From  this,  one  would  realize  that,  if  such  rewards  are 
offered,  civil  wars  will  never  cease  to  be. 

And  so  in  Rome  only  the  walls  of  her  houses  remain 
standing — and  even  they  wait  now  in  fear  of  the 
most  unspeakable  crimes — but  our  republic  we  have 
lost  for  ever.     But  to  return  to  my  subject:   it  is 

197 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
quam  cari  esse  et  diligi  malumus.  Quae  si  populo 
Romano  iniuste  imperanti  accidere  potuerunt,  quid 
debent  putare  singuli  ?  Quod  cum  perspicuum  sit, 
benivolentiae  vim  esse  magnam,  metus  imbecillam, 
sequitur,  ut  dissei*amus,  quibus  rebus  facillime  possi- 
mus  eam,  quam  volumus,  adipisci  cum  honore  et  fide 
caritatem. 

50  Sed  ea  non  pariter  omnes  egemus;  nam  ad  cuius- 
que  vitam  institutam  accommodandum  est,  a  multisne 
opus  sit  an  satis  sit  a  paucis  diligi.  Certum  igitur 
hoc  sit,  idque  et  primum  et  maxime  necessarium, 
familiaritates  habere  fidas  amantium  nos  amicorum 
et  nostra  mirantium ;  haec  enim  una  res  prorsus,  ut 
non  multum  differat  inter  summos  et  mediocris  viros, 
aeque^  utrisque  est  propemodum  comparanda. 

51  Honore  et  gloria  et  benivolentia  civium  fortasse 
non  aeque  omnes  egent,  sed  tamen,  si  cui  haec  sup- 
petunt,  adiuvant  aliquantum  cum  ad  cetera,  tum  ad 
amicitias  comparandas. 

IX.  Sed  de  amicitia  alio  libro  dictum  est,  qui  in- 
scribitur  Laelius ;  nunc  dicamus  de  gloria,  quamquam 
ea  quoque  de  re  duo  sunt  nostri  libri,  sed  attingamus, 
quandoquidem  ea  in  rebus  maioribus  administrandis 
adiuvat  plui*imum. 

Summa  igitur  et  perfecta  gloria  constat  ex  tribus 

*  enim  una  Baiter  ;  entm  est  una  MSS. 

*  aeque  Lund  ;  eaque  MSS. 

198 


BOOK  II.  viii-ix 

while  we  have  preferred  to  be  the  object  of  fear 
rather  than  of  love  and  affection,  that  all  these  mis- 
fortunes  have  fallen  upon  us.  And  if  such  retribution 
could  overtake  the  Roman  People  for  their  injustice 
and  tyranny,  what  ought  private  individuals  to  ex- 
pect?  And  since  it  is  manifest  that  the  power  of 
good-will  is  so  great  and  that  of  fear  is  so  weak,  it 
remains  for  us  to  discuss  by  what  means  we  can  most 
readily  win  the  afFection,  linked  with  honour  and 
confidence,  which  we  desire. 

But  we  do  not  all  feel  this  need  to  the  same  The  acquisitioi 
extent ;  for  it  must  be  determined  in  conformitj  °  "^°  *' 
with  each  individuaVs  vocation  in  hfe  whether  it  is 
essential  for  him  to  have  the  affection  of  many  or 
whether  the  love  of  a  few  will  suffice.  Let  this  then 
be  settled  as  the  first  and  absohite  essential — that 
we  have  the  devotion  of  friends,  affectionate  and 
loving,  who  value  our  worth.  For  in  just  this  one 
point  there  is  but  Uttle  difference  between  the 
greatest  and  the  ordinary  man ;  and  friendship  is  to 
be  cultivated  almost  equally  by  both. 

All  men  do  not,  perhaps,  stand  equally  in  need  of 
political  honour,  fame,  and  the  good-will  of  their 
fellow-citizens ;  nevertheless,  if  these  honours  come 
to  a  man,  they  help  in  many  ways,  and  especially  in 
the  acquisition  of  friends. 

IX.  But  friendship  has  been  discussed  in  another 
book  of  mine,  entitled     Laehus."     Let  us  now  take  The 
up  the  discussion  of  Glory,  although  I  have  published  o"|ior™^°* 
two  books^  on  that  subject  also.     Still,  let  us  touch 
briefly  on  it  here,  since  it  is  of  very  great  help  in 
the  conduct  of  more  important  business. 

The  highest,  truest  glory  depends  upon  the  fol- 

'  Now  lost,  thongh  they  were  still  known  to  Petrarch. 

199 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

his :  si  diligit  multitudo,  si  fidem  habet,  si  cum  ad- 
miratione  quadam  honore  dignos  putat.  Haec 
autem^  si  est  simpliciter  breviterque  dicendum, 
quibus  rebus  pai*iuntur  a  singuhs,  eisdem  fere  a  mul- 
titudine.  Sed  est  alius  quoque  quidam  aditus  ad 
multitudinem,  ut  in  universorum  animos  tamquam 
influere  possimus. 

32  Ac  primum  de  illis  tribus,  quae  ante  dixi,  benivo- 
lentiae  praecepta  videamus;  quae  quidem  capitur 
beneficiis  maxime,  secundo  autem  loco  voluntate 
benefica  benivolentia  movetur,  etiamsi  res  forte  non 
suppetit ;  vehementer  autem  amor  multitudinis  com- 
movetur  ipsa  fama  et  opinione  hberalitatis,  benefi- 
centiaCj  iustitiae,  fidei  omniumque  earum  virtutum, 
quae  pertinent  ad  mansuetudinem  morum  ac  facih- 
tatem.  Etenim  illud  ipsum,  quod  honestum  deco- 
rumque  dicimus,  quia  per  se  nobis  placet  animosque 
omnium  natura  et  specie  sua  commovet  maximeque 
quasi  perlucet  ex  iis,  quas  commemoravi,  virtutibus, 
idcirco  illos,  in  quibus  eas  virtutes  esse  remur,  a 
natura  ipsa  diligere  cogimur.  Atque  hae  quidem 
causae  dihgendi  gravissimae ;  possunt  enim  praeterea 
non  nullae  esse  leviores. 

33  Fides   autem    ut    habeatur,    duabus    rebus    effici 

potest,   si    existimabimur   adepti    coniunctam   cum 

iustitia   prudentiam.     Nam   et  iis  fidem   habemus, 
200 


BOOK  II.  ix 

lowing  three  things :    the  afFectionj  the  confidence, 

and    the   mingled    admiration    and    esteem    of  the 

people.  Such  sentiments,  if  I  may  speak  plainly  and 

concisely,  are  awakened  in  the  masses  in  the  same 

way  as  in  individuals.      But  there  is  also  another  how  to  gain 

avenue  of  approach  to  the  masses,  by  which  we  can,  P°P"ianty: 

as  it  were,  steal  into  the  hearts  of  all  at  once. 

But  of  the  three  above-named  requisites,  let  us  (i)  through 
look  first  at  good-will  and  the  rules  for  securing  it.  ^°°  "^'  ' 
Good-will  is  won  principally  through  kind  services^; 
next  to  that,  it  is  eHcited  by  the  will  to  do  a  kind 
service,  even  though  nothing  happen  to  come  of  it. 
Then,  too,  the  love  of  people  generally  is  powerfully 
attracted  by  a  man's  mere  name  and  reputation  for 
generosity,  kindness,  justice,  honour,  and  all  those 
virtues  that  belong  to  gejitleness  of  character  and 
afFabihty  of  manner.  And  because  that  very  quahty 
which  we  term  moral  goodness  and  propriety  is 
pleasing  to  us  by  and  of  itself  and  touches  all  our 
hearts  both  by  its  inward  essence  and  its  outward 
aspect  and  shines  forth  with  most  lustre  through 
those  virtues  named  above,  we  are,  therefore,  com- 
pelled  by  Nature  herself  to  love  those  in  whom  we 
believe  those  virtues  to  reside.  Now  these  are  only 
the  most  powerful  motives  to  love — not  all  of  them ; 
there  may  be  some  minor  ones  besides. 

Secondly,    the    command    of  confidence    can    be  (2)  through 
secured  on  two  conditions:  (l)  if  people  think  us '^°'^*^^°'^^' 
possessed  of  practical  wisdom  combined  with  a  sense 
of  justice.    For  we  have  confidence  in  those  who  we 
think  have  more  understanding  than  ourselves,  who, 

'  Cicero  means  by  "kind  services"  the  services  of  the 
lawyer;  he  was  forbidden  by  law  to  accept  a  fee;  his 
services,  if  hc  contributed  them,  vvere  "  acfls  of  kindness." 

201 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quos  plus  intellegere  quam  nos  arbitramur  quosque 
et  futura  prospicere  credimus  et,  cum  res  agatur  in 
discrimenque  ventum  sit,  expedire  rem  et  consilium 
ex  tempore  capere  posse ;  hanc  enim  utilem  homines 
existimant  veramque  prudentiam.  lustis  autem  et 
fidis^  hominibus,  id  est  bonis  viris,  ita  fides  habetur, 
ut  nulla  sit  in  iis^  fraudis  iniuriaeque  suspicio. 
Itaque  his  salutem  nostram,  his  fortunas,  his  liberos 
rectissime  committi  arbitramur. 

34  Harum  igitur  duarum  ad  fidem  faciendam  iustitia 
plus  pollet,  quippe  cum  ea  sine  prudentia  satis  habeat 
auctoritatis,  prudentia  sine  iustitia  nihil  valet  ad 
faciendam  fidem.  Quo  enim  quis  versutior  et  calli- 
dior,  hoc  invisior  et  suspectior  est  detracta  opinione 
probitatis.  Quam  ob  rem  intellegentiae  iustitia 
coniuncta,  quantum  volet,  habebit  ad  faciendam 
fidem  virium ;  iustitia  sine  prudentia  multum  poterit, 
sine  iustitia  nihil  valebit  prudentia. 

35  X.  Sed  ne  quis  sit  admiratus,  cur,  cum  inter 
omnes  philosophos  constet  a  meque  ipso  saepe  dis- 
putatum  sit,  qui  unam  haberet,  omnes  habere  vir- 
tutes,  nunc  ita  seiungam,  quasi  possit  quisquam,  qui 
non  idem  prudens  sit,  iustus  esse,  alia  est  illa,  cum 
veritas  Ipsa  limatur  in  disputatione,  subtilitas,  aha, 
cum  ad  opinionem  communem  omnis  accommodatur 

^etfidis  MSS.;  del.  Facciolati,  Pearce  ;  {et  fidis\  Bt.,  Ed. 
"^iis  B  ;  his  H  a  b  ;  hijs  c. 
202 


BOOK  II.  ix-x 

we  believe,  have  better  insight  into  the  future,  and 
who^  when  an  emergency  arises  and  a  crisis  comes,  can 
clear  away  the  difficulties  and  reach  a  safe  decision 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  occasion ;  for  that 
kind  of  wisdom  the  world  accounts  genuine  and 
practical.  But  (2)  confidence  is  reposed  in  men 
who  are  just  and  true — that  is,  good  men — on 
the  definite  assumption  that  their  characters  admit 
of  no  suspicion  of  dishonesty  or  wrong-doing.  And 
so  we  beheve  that  it  is  perfectly  safe  to  entrust 
our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  children  to  their 
care. 

Of  these  two  qualities,  then,  justice  hasthe  greater  Justice 
power  to  inspire  confidence;  for  even  without  the  wisdom; 
aid  of  wisdom,  it  has  considerable  weight;  but 
wisdom  without  justice  is  of  no  avail  to  inspire 
confidence;  for  take  from  a  man  his  reputation  for 
probity,  and  the  more  shrewd  and  clever  he  is,  the 
more  hated  and  mistrusted  he  becomes.  Therefore, 
justice  combined  with  practical  wisdom  will  command 
all  the  confidence  we  can  desire;  justice  without 
wisdom  will  be  able  to  do  much ;  wisdom  without 
justice  will  be  of  no  avail  at  all. 

X.  But  I  am  afraid  some  one  may  wonder  why  I  am 
now  separating  the  virtues — as  if  it  were  possible  for 
anyone  to  be  just  who  is  not  at  the  same  time  wise ; 
for  it  is  agreed  upon  among  all  philosophers,  and 
I  myself  have  often  argued,  that  he  who  has  one 
virtue  has  them  all.  The  explanation  of  my  appa- 
rent  inconsistency  is  that  the  precision  of  speech  we 
employ,  when  abstract  truth  is  critically  investigated 
in  philosophic  discussion,  is  one  thing;  and  that 
employed,  when  we  are  adapting  our  language 
entirely  to  popular  thinking,  is  another.  And  there- 

203 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

oratio.  Quam  ob  rem,  ut  volgus,  ita  nos  lioc  loco 
loquimur,  ut  alios  fortes,  alios  viros  bonos,  alios  pru- 
dentes  esse  dicamus;  popularibus  enim  verbis  est 
agendum  et  usitatis,  cum  loquimur^  de  opinione 
populari,  idque  eodem  modo  fecit  Panaetius.  Sed  ad 
propositum  revertamur. 

36  Erat  igitur  ex  iis^  tribus,  quae  ad  gloriam  perti- 
nerent,  hoc  tertium,  ut  cum  admiratione  hominum 
honore  ab  iis'  digni  iudicaremur.  Admirantur  igitur 
communiter  illi  quidem  omnia,  quae  magna  et  praeter 
opinionem  suam  animadverterunt,  separatim  autem, 
in  singulis  si  perspiciunt  necopinata  quaedam  bona. 
Itaque  eos  viros  suspiciunt  maximisque  efferunt  laudi- 
bus,  in  quibus  existimant  se  excellentes  quasdam  et 
singulares  perspicere  virtutes,  despiciunt  autem  eos  et 
contemnunt,  in  quibus  nihil  virtutis,  nihil  animi,  nihil 
nervorum  putant.  Non  enim  omnes  eos  contemnunt, 
de  quibus  male  existimant.  Nam  quos  improbos,  male- 
dicos,  fraudulentos  putant  et  ad  faciendam  iniuriam 
instructos,  eos  haud  contemnunt  quidem,^  sed  de  iis^ 
male  existimant.  Quam  ob  rem,  ut  ante  dixi,  conte- 
mnuntur  ii,^  qui  nec  sibi  nec  alteri,"  ut  dicitur,  in 
quibus  nullus  labor,  nulla  industria,  nulla  cura  est. 

S7  Admiratione  autem  afficiuntur  ii,  qui  anteire 
ceteris  virtute  putantur  et  cum  omni  carere  dedecore, 
tum  vero  iis  vitiis,  quibus  alii  non  facile  possunt 
obsistere.  Nam  et  vohiptates,  blandissimae  dominae, 
maioris  partis  animos'  a  virtute  detorquent  et,  dolo- 
rum  cum  admoventur  faces,  praeter  modum  plerique 
exterrentur;    vita  mors,   divitiae    paupertas   omnes 

^ loqutmur  B  ;  loquamur  H  a  b  ;  loquemur  c. 

"^iis  Bl.  ;  his  H  H  ;  hijs  c  ;  not  in  a  b. 

'^iis  Bt.  ;  his  B  H  a  b  ;  hijs  c. 

*haud  contemnunt  quidcm  b,    Bt.' ;  contemnunt  quidem 

204 


BOOK  11.  X 

fore  I  am  speaking  here  in  the  popular  sense,  when 
I  call  some  men  brave,  others  good,  and  still  others 
wise ;  for  in  dealing  with  popular  conceptions  we 
must  employ  familiar  words  in  their  common  accepta- 
tion ;  and  this  was  the  practice  of  Panaetius  likewise. 
But  let  us  return  to  the  subject. 

The  third,  then,  of  the  three  conditions  I  named  (3)  through 
as  essential  to  glory  is  that  we  be  accounted  worthy  admi^Uon, 
of  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  our  fellow-men. 
While  people  admire  in  general  everything  that  is 
great  or  better  than  they  expect,  they  admire  in  par- 
ticular  the  good  qualities  that  they  find  unexpectedly 
in  individuals.  And  so  they  reverence  and  extol 
with  the  highest  praises  those  men  in  whom  they 
see  certain  pre-eminent  and  extraordinary  talents; 
and  they  look  down  with  contempt  upon  those  who 
they  think  have  no  abihty,  no  spirit,  no  energy.  For 
they  do  not  despise  all  those  of  whom  they  think  ill. 
For  some  men  they  consider  unscrupulous,  slander- 
ous,  fraudulent,  and  dangerous;  they  do  not  despise 
them,  it  may  be ;  but  they  do  think  ill  of  them. 
And  therefore,  as  I  said  before,  those  are  despised 
who  are  of  no  use  to  themselves  or  their  neigh- 
bours,"  as  the  saj-ing  is,  who  are  idle,  lazy,  and 
indifFerent. 

On  the  other  hand,  those  are  regarded  with  ad- 
miration  who  are  thought  to  excel  others  in  abihty 
and  to  be  free  from  all  dishonour  and  also  from 
those  vices  which  others  do  not  easily  resist.  For 
sensual  pleasure,  a  most  seductive  mistress,  turns  the 
hearts  of  the  greater  part  of  humanity  away  from 
virtue ;  and  when  the  fiery  trial  of  affliction  draws 
near,  most  people  are  terrified  beyond  measure. 
Life  and  death,  -«'ealth  and  want  afFect  all  wen  most 

205 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

homines  vehementissime  permovent.  Quae  qui  in 
utramque  partem  excelso  animo  magnoque  despici- 
unt,  cumque  aliqua  iis  ampla  et  honesta  res  obiecta 
est,  totos  ad  se  convertit  et  rapit,  tum  quis  non  ad- 
miretur  splendorem  pulchritudinemque  virtutis  ? 

38  XI.  Ergo  et  haec  animi  despicientia  admirabihta- 
tem  magnam  facit  et  maxime  iustitia,  ex  qua  una 
virtute  viri  boni  appellantur,  mirifica  quaedam  mul- 
titudini  videtur,  nec  iniuria ;  nemo  enim  iustus  esse 
potest,  qui  mortem,  qui  dolorem,  qui  exsihum,  qui 
egestatem  timet,  aut  qui  ea,  quae  sunt  his  contraria, 
aequitati  anteponit.  Maximeque  admirantur  eum, 
qui  pecunia  non  movetur;  quod  in  quo  viro  perspe- 
ctum  sit,  hunc  igni  spectatum  arbitrantur. 

Itaque  illa  tria,  quae  proposita  sunt  ad  gloriam, 
omnia  iustitia  conficit,  et  benivolentiam,  quod  prod- 
esse  vult  plurimis,  et  ob  eandem  causam  fidem  et 
admirationem,  quod  eas  res  spernit  et  neglegit,  ad 
quas  plerique  inflammati  aviditate  rapiuntur. 

39  Ac  mea  quidem  sententia  omnis  ratio  atque  insti- 
tutio  vitae  adiumenta  hominum  desiderat,  in  primis- 
que  ut  habeat,  quibuscum  possit  famihares  conferre 
sermones;  quod  est  difficile,  nisi  speciem  prae  te 
boni  viri  feras.  Ergo  etiam  sohtario  homini  atque  in 
agro  vitam  agenti  opinio  iustitiae  necessaria  est, 
eoque  etiam  magis,  quod,  eam  si  non  habebunt, 
[iniusti  habebuntur,]'  nulhs  praesidiis  saepti  multis 

^iniusii  habebuniurli  H  b;  bracketed  by  Facciolati,  Edd. 

nautiquam  B  H  a  p,  Bt.',  Heine  ;  contemnunt  quidem  nequa- 
quam  c  ;  non  contemnunt  quidem  Madvig,  Miiller. 

*  iis  B,  Edd.  ;  his  H  a  b  ;  hijs  c. 

«M  B  b  ;  hii  H  ;  hi  a.;  hij  c.    So  §  37. 

^maioris  partis  animos  c,  Edd.;  maiores partis  aniini  B; 
maiores  partes  animi  H  a  b. 

206 


BOOK  II.  x-xi 

powerfully.  But  when  men,  with  a  spirit  great  and 
exalted,  can  look  down  upon  sueh  outward  circum- 
stances,  whether  prosperous  or  adverse,  and  when 
some  noble  and  virtuous  purpose,  presented  to  their 
minds,  converts  them  wholly  to  itself  and  carries 
them  away  in  its  pursuit,  Avho  then  could  fail  to 
admire  in  them  the  splendour  and  beauty  of  virtue  ? 

XI.  As,  then,  this  superiority  of  mind  to  such  Justicdsthe 
externals  inspires  great  admiration,  so  justice,  popuTarlty" 
above  all,  on  the  basis  of  which  alone  men  are  called 
good  men,"  seems  to  people  generally  a  quite  mar- 
vellous  virtue — and  not  without  good  reason ;  for  no 
one  can  be  just  who  fears  death  or  pain  or  exile  or 
poverty,  or  who  values  their  opposites  above  equity. 
And  people  admire  especially  the  man  who  is  unin- 
fluenced  by  money ;  and  if  a  man  has  proved  himself 
in  this  direction,  they  think  him  tried  as  by  fire. 

Those  three  requisites,  therefore,  which  were  pre- 
supposed  as  the  means  of  obtaining  glory,  are  all 
secured  by  justice:  (l)  good-will,  for  it  seeks  to  be 
of  help  to  the  greatest  number ;  (2)  confidence,  for 
tlie  same  reason;  and  (s)  admiration,  because  it 
scorns  and  cares  nothing  for  those  things,  with  a 
consuming  passion  for  which  most  people  are  carried 
away. 

Now,  in  my  opinion  at  least,  every  walk  and 
vocation  in  life  calls  for  human  co-operation — first 
and  above  all,  in  order  that  one  may  have  friends 
with  whom  to  enjoy  social  intercourse.  And  this  is 
not  easy,  unless  one  is  looked  upon  as  a  good  man. 
So,  even  to  a  man  who  shuns  society  and  to  one  who 
spends  his  life  in  the  country  a  reputation  for  justice 
is  essential — even  more  so  than  to  others ;  for  they 
■who  do  not  have  it  [but  are  considered  unjust]  will 

■207 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
1.96  40  afficientur  iniuriis.  Atque  iis^  etiam,  qui  vendunt 
emunt,  conducunt  locant  contrahendisque  negotiis 
implicantur,  iustitia  ad  rem  gerendam  necessaria  est, 
cuius  tanta  vis  est,  ut  ne  illi  quidem,  qui  maleficio 
et  scelere  pascuntur,  possint  sine  ulla  particula 
iustitiae  vivere.  Nam  qui  eorum  cuipiam,  qui  una 
latrocinantur,  furatur  aliquid  aut  eripit,  is  sibi  ne  in 
latrocinio  quidem  relinquit  locum,  ille  autem,  qui 
archipirata  dicitur,  nisi  aequabiliter  praedam  disper- 
ti.it,  aut  interficiatur  a  sociis  aut  relinquatur;  quin 
etiam  leges  latronum  esse  dicuntur,  quibus  pareant, 
quas  observent.  Itaque  propter  aequabilem  praedae 
partitionem  et  Barduhs  Illj^rius  latro,  de  quo  est 
apud  Theopompum,  magnas  opes  habuit  et  multo 
maiores  Viriathus  Lusitanus;  cui  quidem  etiam 
exercitus  nostri  imperatoresque  cesserunt;  quem  C. 
Laelius,  is  qui  Sapiens  usui*patur,  praetor  fregit  et 
comminuit  ferocitatemque  eius  it£  1'epressit,  ut  facile 
bellum  reliquis  traderet. 

Cum  igitur  tanta  vis  iustitiae  sit,  ut  ea  etiam  latro- 
num  opes  firmet  atque  augeat,  quantam  eius  vim 
inter  leges  et  iudicia  et  in  constituta  re  publica  fore 
putamus  ? 
41  XII.  Mihi  quidem  non  apud  Medos  solum,  ut  ait 
Herodotus,  sed  etiam  apud  maiores  nostros  iustitiae 
fruendae  causa  videntur  olim  bene  morati  reges  con- 
stituti.  Nam  cum  premeretur  inops  ^  multitudo  ab 
iis,   qui  maiores  opes  habebant,  ad  unum  aliquem 

^iis  Edd. ;  his  B  H  a  b,  not  in  c. 

^inops   inferior  MSS. ,  Edd.;  in  otio  (i.e.  "at  vviU")  B  H 
a  b  p  ;  inicio  (=  iniiio)  c. 
208 


BOOK  II.  xi-xii 

have  no  defence   to  protect  them  and  so  will  be 

40  the  victims  of  many  kinds  of  wrong.  So  also  to 
buyers  and  sellers,  to  employers  and  employed,  and 
to  those  who  are  engaged  in  commercial  dealings 
generally,  justice  is  indispensable  for  the  conduct  of 
business.  Its  importance  is  so  great,  that  not  even  Honouramong 
those  who  live  by  wickedness  and  crime  can  get  on  *^'^^*s 
without  some  small  element  of  justice.   For  if  a  rob- 

ber  takes  anything  by  force  or  by  fraud  from  another 
member  of  the  gang,  he  loses  his  standing  even  in  a 
band  of  robbers ;  and  if  the  one  called  the  Pirate 
Captain"  should  not  divide  the  plunder  impartially, 
he  would  be  either  deserted  or  murdered  by  his 
comrades.  Why,  they  say  that  robbers  even  have  a 
code  of  laws  to  observe  and  obey.  And  so,  because 
of  his  impartial  division  of  booty,  Bardulis,  the  Illyr- 
ian  bandit,  of  whom  we  read  in  Theopompus, 
aequired  great  power,  Viriathus,  of  Lusitania,  much 
greater.  He  actually  defied  even  our  armies  and 
generals.  But  Gaius  Laelius — the  one  surnamed 
the  Wise" — in  his  praetorship  crushed  his  power, 
reduced  him  to  terms,  and  so  checked  his  intrepid 
daring,  that  he  left  to  his  successors  an  easy  conquest. 
Since,  therefore,  the  efficacy  of  justice  is  so  great 
that  it  strengthens  and  augments  the  power  even  of 
robbers,  how  great  do  we  think  its  power  will  be  in 
a  constitutional  government  with  its  laws  and  courts  ? 

41  XII.  Now  it  seems  to  me,  at  least,  that  not  only  Kingschosen 
among  the  Medes,  as  Herodotus  tells  us,  but  also  justke.^^''*  °* 
among  our  own  ancestors,  men  of  high  moral  char- 

acter  were  made  kings  in  order  that  the  people 
might  enjoy  justice.  For,  as  the  masses  in  their 
helplessness  were  oppressed  by  the  strong,  they 
appealed  for  protection  to  some  one  man  who  wa' 
p  209 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
confugiebant  virtute  praestantem;   qui  cum  prohi- 
beret  iniuria  tenuiores^  aequitate  constituenda  sum- 
mos  cum  infimis '  pari  iure  retinebat.^     Eademque 

42  constituendarum  legum  fuit  causa,  quae  regum.  lus 
enim  semper  est  quaesitum  aequabile ;  neque  enim 
aliter  esset  ius.  Id  si  ab  uno  iusto  et  bono  viro  con- 
sequebanturj  erant  eo  contenti;  cum  id  minus  con- 
tingeret,  leges  sunt  inventae,  quae  cum  omnibus 
semper  una  atque  eadem  voce  loquerentur. 

Ergo  hoc  quidem  perspicuum  est,  eos  ad  imperan- 
dum  deligi  sohtos,  quorum  de  iustitia  magna  esset 
opinio  multitudinis.  Adiuncto  vero,  ut  idem  etiam 
prudentes  haberentur,  niliil  erat,  quod  homines  iis 
auctoribus  non  posse  consequi  se  arbitrarentur.  Omni 
igitur  ratione  colenda  et  retinenda  iustitia  est  cum 
ipsa  per  sese  (nam  aliter  iustitia  non  esset),  tum 
propter  amplificationem  honoris  et  gloriae. 

Sed  ut  pecuniae  non  quaercndae  solum  ratio  est, 
verum  etiam  collocandae,  quae  perpetuos  sumptus 
suppeditet,  nec  solum  necessarios,  sed  etiam  liberales, 
sic  gloria  et  quaerenda   et  coUocanda  ratione  est. 

43  Quamquam  praeclare  Socrates  hanc  viam  ad  gloriam 
proximam  et  quasi  compendiariam  dicebat  esse,  si 
quis  id  ageret,  ut,  quahs  haberi  vellet,  taHs  esset. 
Quodsi  qui  simulatione  et  inani  ostentatione  et  ficto 
non  modo  sermone,  sed  etiam  voltu  stabilem  se 
gloriam  consequi  posse  rentur,  vehementer  errant. 

*  infimis  c,  Edd. ;  infirmis  B  a  b  ;  infirmos  H. 

•  retinebat  c,  Edd. ;  pertinebat  B  H  a  p  ;  pertinebant  b. 

210 


BOOK  II.  xii 

conspicuous  for  his  virtue;  and  as  he  shielded  the 
weaker  classes  from  wrong,  he  managed  by  establish- 
ing  equitable  conditions  to  hold  the  higher  and  the 
lower  classes  in  an  equality  of  right.  The  reason  for 
making  constitutional  laws  was  the  same  as  that  for 

t2  making  kings.  For  what  people  have  always  sought 
is  equality  of  rights  before  the  law.  For  rights  that 
were  not  open  to  all  aUke  would  be  no  rights.  If 
the  people  secured  their  end  at  the  hands  of  one 
just  and  good  man,  they  were  satisfied  with  that; 
but  when  such  was  not  their  good  fortune,  laws  were 
invented,  to  speak  to  all  men  at  all  times  in  one  and 
the  same  voice. 

This,  then,  is  obvious :  nations  used  to  select  for 
their  rulers  those  men  whose  reputation  for  justice 
was  high  in  the  eyes  of  the  people.  If  in  addition 
they  Were  also  thought  wise,  there  was  nothing  that 
men  did  not  think  they  could  secure  under  such 
leadership.  Justice  is,  therefore,  in  every  way  to  be 
cultivated  and  maintained,  both  for  its  own  sake  (for 
otherwise  it  would  not  be  justice)  andforthe  enhance- 
ment  of  personal  honour  and  glory. 

But  as  there  is  a  method  not  only  of  acquiring 
money  but  also  of  investing  it  so  as  to  yield  an  in- 
come  to  meet  our  continuously  recurring  expenses — - 
both  for  the  necessities  and  for  the  more  refined 
comforts  of  Ufe — so  there  must  be  a  method  of  gain- 
ing  glory  and  turning  it  to  account.     And  yet,  as 

iS  Socrates  used  to  express  it  so  admirably,  'the  near-  xhewayto 
est  way  to  glory — a  short-cut,  as  it  were — is  to  strive  ^^°^^  '*  Justwa 
to  be  what  you  wish  to  be  thought  to  be."  For  if 
anyone  thinks  that  he  can  win  lasting  glory  by 
pretence,  by  empty  show,  by  hypocritical  talk  and 
looks,  he  is  very  much  mistaken.  True  glory  strikes 
p2  2H 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
Vera  gloria  radices  agit  atque  etiam  propagatur,  ficta 
omnia  celeriter  tamquam  flosculi  decidunt,  nec  simu- 
latum  potest  quicquam  esse  diuturnum  Testes  sunt 
permulti  in  utramque  partem,  sed  brevitatis  causa 
familia  contenti  erimus  una.  Ti.  enim  Gracchus  P. 
f.  tam  diu  laudabitur,  dum  memoria  rerum  Roma- 
narum  manebit;  at  eius  filii  nec  vivi  probabantur 
bonis  et  mortui  numerum  optinent  iure  caesorum. 

XIII.  Qui  igitur  adipisci  veram   gloriam^   volet, 
iustitiae  fungatur  officiis.     Ea  quae  essent,  dictum 
I,  «0-4»  gg|.  jj^  ixbro  superiore. 

44  (XIII.)  Sed  ut  facillime,  quales  simus,  tales  esse 
videamur,  etsi  in  eo  ipso  vis  maxima  est,  ut  sin  is  ii, 
qui  haberi  velimus,  tamen  quaedam  praecepta  danda 
sunt.  Nam  si  quis  ab  ineunte  aetate  habet  causan 
celebritatis  et  nominis  aut  a  patre  acceptam,  quod 
tibi,  mi  Cicero,  arbitror  contigisse,  aut  aliquo  casu 
atque  fortuna,  in  hunc  oculi  omnium  coniciuntur 
atque  in  eum,  quid  agat,  quem  ad  modum  vivat,  in- 
quiritur  et,  tamquam  in  clarissima  luce  versetur,  ita 
nullum  obscurum  potest  nec  dictum  eius  esse  nec 

45  factum.  Quorum  autem  prima  aetas  propter  humili- 
tatem  et  obscuritatem  in  hominum  ignoratione  ver- 
satur,  ii,'  simul  ac  iuvenes  esse  coeperunt,  magna 
spectare  et  ad  ea  rectis  studiis  debent  contendere ; 

^  veram  gloriam  Edd.;  veram  iustitiae  gloriam  MSSi 
"iV  B,  Edd. ;  hi  H  ;  iis  b;  hij c\  his  a. 


BOOK  II.  xii-xiii 

deep  root  and  spreads  its  branches  wide;  but  all 
pretences  soon  fall  to  the  ground  like  fragile 
flowers,  and  nothing  counterfeit  can  be  lasting. 
There  are  very  many  witnesses  to  both  facts; 
but  for  brevity's  sake,  I  shall  confine  myself  to  one 
family:  Tiberius  Gracchus,  Publius's  son,  will  be 
held  in  honour  as  long  as  the  memory  of  Rome 
shall  endure;  but  his  sons  were  not  apprpved  by 
patriots  while  they  Hved,  and  since  they  are  dead 
they  are  numbered  among  those  whose  murder  was 
justifiable. 

XIII.  If,  therefore,  anyone   wishes   to  win  true  Ways  of  winnJn( 
glory,  let  him  discharge  the  duties  required  by  jus-  *  ^°°  °*™*" 
tice.     And  what  they  are  has  been  set  forth  in  the 
course  of  the  preceding  book. 

I-^  (XIII.)  But  although  the  very  essence  of  the 
problem  is  that  we  actually  be  what  we  wish  to  be 
thought  to  be,  still  some  rules  may  be  laid  down  to 
enable  us  most  easily  to  secure  the  reputation  of  being 
what  we  are.  For  if  anyone  in  his  early  youth  has 
the  responsibihty  of  Uving  up  to  a  distinguished  name 
acquired  either  by  inheritance  from  his  father  (as,  I 
think,  my  dear  Cicero,  is  your  good  fortune)  or  by 
some  chance  or  happy  combination  of  circumstances, 
the  eyes  of  the  world  are  turned  upon  him ;  his  lifr 
and  character  are  scrutinized ;  and,  as  if  he  move( 
in  a  blaze  of  light,  not  a  word  and  not  a  deed  of  his 

45  can  be  kept  a  secret.  Those,  on  the  other  hand, 
whose  humble  and  obscure  origin  has  kept  them  un- 
known  to  the  world  in  their  early  years  ought,  as 
soon  as  they  approach  young  manhood,  to  set  a  high 
ideal  before  their  eyes  and  to  strive  with  unswerv- 
ing  zeal  towards  its  realization.  This  they  will 
do  with  the  better  heart,  because  that  time  of  Ufe  is 

213 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quod  eo  firmiore  animo  facient,  quia  non  modo  non 
invidetur  illi  aetati,  verum  etiam  favetur. 

Prima  igitur  est  adulescenti  commendatio  ad 
gloriam,  si  qua  ex  bellicis  rebus  comparari  potest,  in 
qua  multi  apud  maiores  nostros  exstiterunt ;  semper 
enim  fere  bella  gerebantur.  Tua  autem  aetas  incidit 
in  id  bellum,  cuius  altera  pars  sceleris  nimium  habuit, 
altera  felicitatis  parum.  Quo  tamen  in  bello  cum  te 
Pompeius  alae  [alteri] '  praefecisset,  magnam  laudem 
et  a  summo  viro  et  ab  exercitu  consequebare  equi- 
tando,  iaculando,  omni  militari  labore  tolerando. 
Atque  ea  quidem  tua  laus  pariter  cum  re  publica 
cecidit. 

Mihi  autem  haec  oratio  suscepta  non  de  te  est,  sed 
de  gcnere  toto ;  quam  ob  rem  pergamus  ad  ea,  quae 
restant. 
46  Ut  igitur  in  reliquis  rebus  multo  maiora  opera  sunt 
animi  quam  corporis,  sic  eae  rcs,  quas  ingenio  ac 
ratione  persequimur,  gratiores  sunt  quam  illae,  quas 
viribus.  Prima  igitur  commendatio  proficiscitur  a 
modestia  cum^  pietate  in  parentes,  in  suos  benivo- 
lentia.  FacilHme  autem  et  in  optimam  partem 
cognoscuntur  ad«lescentes,  qui  se  ad  claros  et  sapi- 
entes  viros  bene  consulentes  rei  publicae  contule- 
runt;  quibuscum  si  frequentes  sunt,  opinionem 
afferunt  populo  eorum  fore  se  similes,  quos  sibi  ipsi 

^alteri  MSS.;  om.  Graevius,  Edd, 
'^cum  Victorius,  Edd.;  tutn  MSS. 

214 


BOOK  II.  xiii 

accustomed  to  find  favour  rather  than  to  meet  with 
opposition. 

Well,  then,  the  first  thing  to  recommend  to  a  young  (i)  by  a  miutary 
man  in  his  quest  for  glory  is  that  he  try  to  win  it,  if  <^*'^®^''« 
he  can,  in  a  military  career.  Among  our  forefathers 
many  distinguished  themselves  as  soldiers;  for  war- 
fare  was  almost  continuous  then.  The  period  of  your 
own  youth,  however,  has  coincided  with  that  war  in 
which  the  one  side  was  too  prolific  in  crime,  the 
other  in  failure.  And  yet,  when  Pompey  placed  you 
in  command  of  a  cavalry  squadron  in  this  war,  you 
won  the  applause  of  that  great  man  and  of  the  army 
for  your  skill  in  riding  and  spear-throwing  and  for 
endurance  of  all  the  hardships  of  the  soldier's  life. 
But  that  credit  accorded  to  you  came  to  nothing 
along  with  the  fall  of  the  repubhc. 

The  subject  of  this  discussion,  however,  is  not 
your  personal  history,  but  the  general  theme.  Let 
us,  therefore,  proceed  to  the  sequel. 

As,  then,  in    everything  else  brain-work  is   far  (2)  by  personal 
more    important   than    mere    hand-work,  so   those 
objects  which  we  strive  to  attain  through  intellect 
and  reason  gain  for  us  a  higher  degree  of  gratitude 
than   those  which  we    strive    to  gain   by   physical 
strength.     The  best  recommendation,  then,  that  a 
young  man  can  have  to  popular  esteem  proceeds  from 
self-restraint,  filial  affection,  and  devotion  to  kinsfolk. 
Next  to  that,  young  men  win  recognition  most  easily  (3)  by  associatioi 
and  most  favourably,  if  they  attach  themselves  to  *'*  ^  ^  ^^^^^' 
men  who  are  at  once  wise  and  renowned  as  well  as 
patriotic  counsellors  in  pubHc  affairs.     And  if  they 
associate  constantly  with  such  men,  they  inspire  in 
the  public  the  expectation  that  they  will  be  like 
them, seeing  that  they  have  themselves  selected  them 

215 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

47  delegerint  ad  imitandum.  P.  Rutili  adulescentiam  ad 
opinionem  et  innocentiae  et  iuris  scientiae  P.  Muci  com- 
mendavit  domus.  Nam  L.  quidem  Crassus,  cum  esset 
admodum  adulescens,  non  aliunde  mutuatus  est,  sed 
sibi  ipse  peperit  maximam  laudem  ex  illa  accusatione 
nobili  et  gloriosa,  et,  qua^  aetate  qui  exercentur,  laude 
affici  solent,  ut  de  Demosthene  accepimus,  ea  aetate 
L.  Crassus  ostendit  id  se  in  foro  optime  iam  facere, 
quod  etiam  tum  poterat  domi  cum  laude  meditari. 

48  XIV.  Sed  cum  duplex  ratio  sit  orationis,  quarum 
in  altera  sermo  sit,  in  altera  contentio,  non  est  id 
quidem  dubium,  quin  contentio  [orationis]  '^  maiorem 
vim  habeat  ad  gloriam  (ea  est  enim,  quam  eloquen- 
tiam  dicimus);  sed  tamen  difficile  dictu  est,  quanto- 
pere  conciliet  animos  comitas  affabilitasque  sermonis. 
Exstant  epistulae  et  Philippi  ad  Alexandrum  et 
Antipatri  ad  Cassandrum  et  Antigoni  ad  Phihppum 
filium,  trium  prudentissimorum  (sic  enim  accepimus) ; 
quibus  praecipiunt,  ut  oratione  benigna  multitudinis 
animos  ad  benivolentiam  alHciant  mihtesque  blande 
appellando  [sermone]^  dehniant.  Quae  autem  in 
multitudine  cum  contentione  habetur  oratio,  ea 
saepe  universam  excitat  [gloriam]  * ;  magna  est  enim 
admiratio  copiose  sapienterque  dicentis;  quem  qui 
audiunt,  intellegere  etiam  et  sapere  plus  quam  cete- 

'  et,  qua  Mamitius,  Edd. ;  ex  qua  MSS.  ^  orationis  MSS., 
Ed.;  bracketed  by  Fleckeisen,  Bt.'^,  Miiller,  Heine. 

'  blande  appellando  sermone  a  c,  Edd. ;  blando  appellando 
sermone  15  H  b;  blande  appellando  Gulielmus  (with  three 
inferior  MSS.),  Bt.,  Heine;  [sermone]  Ed.  *  excitat 

gloriam    MSS. ;  excitat  \gloriam\  VA.',  excitat  Lang-e. 

•  At  the  age  of  21  Crassus  conducted  the  case  ag-ainst 
Gaius  Papirius  Carbo,  a  former  supporter  of  the  Gracchi. 
The  prosecution  was  so  ably  conducted  that  Carbo  com- 
mitted  suicide  to  escape  certain  concJcmnation. 

216 


BOOK  II.  xiii-xiv 

tbr  Imitation.  His  frequent  visits  to  the  home  of 
Publiuc.  Mucius  assisted  young  Publius  Rutilius  to 
gain  a  reputation  for  integrity  of  character  and  for 
ability  as  a  jurisconsult.  Not  so,  however,  Lucius 
Crassus ;  for  though  he  was  a  mere  boy,  he  looked  to 
no  one  else  for  assistance,  but  by  his  own  unaided 
ability  he  won  for  himself  in  that  brilHant  and 
famous  prosecution*  a  splendid  reputation  as  an 
orator.  And  at  an  age  when  young  men  are  ac- 
customed  with  their  school  exercises  to  win  applause 
as  students  of  oratory,  this  Roman  Demosthenes, 
Lucius  Crassus,  was  ah'eady  proving  himself  in  the 
law-courts  a  master  of  the  art  which  he  might  even 
then  have  been  studying  at  home  with  credit  to 
himself. 

XIV.  But  as  the  classification  of  discourse  is  a  two-  (4)byeloquence. 
fold  one — conversation,  on  the  one  side ;  oratory,  on 
the  other — there  can  be  no  doubt  that  of  the  two 
this  debating  power  (for  that  is  what  we  mean  by 
sloquence)  counts  for  more  toward  the  attainment  of 
glory ;  and  yet,  it  is  not  easy  to  say  how  far  an  afFable 
and  courteous  manner  in  conversation  may  go  toward 
winning  the  affections.  We  have,  for  instance,  the 
letters  of  PhiHp  to  Alexander,  of  Antipater  to  Cas- 
sander,  and  of  Antigonus  to  Phihp  the  Younger. 
The  authors  of  these  letters  were,  as  we  are  in- 
formed,  three  of  the  wisest  men  in  history ;  and  in 
them  they  instruct  their  sons  to  woo  the  hearts  of 
the  populace  to  affection  by  words  of  kindness  and 
to  keep  their  soldiers  loyal  by  a  winning  address. 
But  the  speech  that  is  dehvered  in  a  debate  before 
an  assembly  often  stirs  the  hearts  of  thousands  at 
once ;  for  the  eloquent  and  judicious  speaker  is  re- 
ceived  with  high  admiration,  and  his  hearers  think 

217 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
ros  arbitrantur.     Si  vero  inest  in  oratione  mixta  mo- 
destia  gravitas,  nihil  admirabilius  fieri  potest,  eoque 
magis,  si  ea  sunt  in  adulescente. 

4*)  Sed  cum  sint  plura  causarum  genera,  quae  elo- 
quentiam  desiderent,  multique  in  nostra  re  publica 
adulescentes  et  apud  iudices  et  apud  populum^  et 
apud  senatum  dicendo  laudem  assecuti  sint,  maxima 
est  admiratio  in  iudiciis. 

Quorum  ratio  duplex  est.  Nam  ex  accusatione  et 
ex  defensione  constat;  quarum  etsi  laudabilior  est 
defensio,  tamen  etiam  accusatio  probata  persaept 
est.  Dixi  paulo  ante  de  Crasso;  idem  fecit  adule- 
scens  M.  Antonius.  Etiam  P.  Sulpici  eloquentiam 
accusatio   illustravit,    cum    seditiosum    et   inutilem 

50  civem,  C.  Norbanum,  in  iudicium  vocavit.  Sed  hoc 
quidem  non  est  saepe  faciendum  nec  umquam  nisi 
aut  rei  publicae  causa,  ut  ii,  quos  ante  dixi,  aut 
ulciscendi,  ut  duo  Luculli,  aut  patrocinii,  ut  nos  pro 
Siculis,  pro  Sardis  in  Albucio  luHus.  In  accusando 
etiam  M'.  Aquilio  L.  Fufi  cognita  industria  est. 
Semel  igitur  aut  non  saepe  certe.  Sin  erit,  cui 
faciendum  sit  saepius,  rei  publicae  tribuat  hoc  mu- 
neris,  cuius  inimicos  ulcisci  saepius  non  est  repre- 

^  et  apudpopulum  c,  Edd.;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 
218 


BOOK  II.  xiv 

him  understanding  and  wise  beyond  all  others.  And 
if  his  speech  have  also  dignity  combined  with  mode- 
ration,  he  will  be  admired  beyond  all  measure, 
especially  if  these  quahties  are  found  in  a  young  man. 

+9  But  while  there  are  occasions  of  many  kinds  that 
call  for  eloquence,  and  while  many  young  men  in 
our  republic  have  obtained  distinction  by  their 
speeches  in  the  courts,  in  the  popular  assembhes, 
and  in  the  senate,  yet  it  is  the  speeches  before  our 
courts  that  excite  the  highest  admiration. 

The  classification  of  forensic  speeches  also  is  a  Prosecution 
twofold  one :  they  are  divided  into  arguments  for  jefence. 
the  prosccution  and  arguments  for  the  defence.  And 
while  the  side  of  the  defence  is  more  honourable, 
still  that  of  the  prosecution  also  has  very  often 
estabhshed  a  reputation.  I  spoke  of  Crassus  a  mo- 
ment  ago ;  Marcus  Antonius,  when  a  youth,  had  the 
same  success.  A  prosecution  brought  the  eloquence 
of  Pubhus  Sulpicius  into  favourable  notice,  when  he 
brought  an  action  against  Gaius  Norbanus,  a  sedi- 

50  tious  and  dangerous  citizen.  But  this  should  not  be 
done  often — never,  in  fact,  except  in  the  interest  of 
the  state  (as  in  the  cases  of  those  above  mentioned) 
or  to  avenge  wrongs  (as  tlie  two  LuculH,  for  example, 
did)  or  for  the  protection  of  our  provincials  (as  I  did 
in  the  defence  of  the  Sicilians,  or  Julius  in  the  prose- 
cution  of  Albucius  in  behalf  of  the  Sardinians).  The 
activity  of  Lucius  Fufius  in  the  impeachment  of 
Manius  Aquihus  is  hkewise  famous.  This  sort  of 
work,  then,  may  be  done  once  in  a  lifetime,  or  at  all 
events  not  often.  But  if  it  shall  be  required  of  any- 
one  to  conduct  more  frequent  prosecutions,  let  him 
do  it  as  a  service  to  his  country ;  for  it  is  no  disgrace 
to   be  often  employed  in  the  prosecution  of  her 

219 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

hendendum ;  modus  tamen  adsit.  Duri  enim  hominis 
vel  potius  vix  hominis  videtur  periculum  capitis 
inferre  multis.  Id  cum  periculosum  ipsi  est,  tum 
etiam  sordidum  ad  famam,  committere,  ut  accusator 
nominere;  quod  contigit  M.  Bruto  summo  genere 
nato,  illius  filio,  qui  iuris  civilis  in  primis  peritus  fuit. 
51  Atque  etiam  hoc  praeceptum  officii  diligenter 
tenendum  est,  ne  quem  umquam  innocentem  iudicio 
capitis  arcessas;  id  enim  sine  scelere  fieri  nullo 
pacto  potest.  Nam  quid  est  tam  inhumanum  quam 
eloquentiam  a  natura  ad  salutem  hominum  et  ad 
conservationem  datam  ad  bonorum  pestem  pernici- 
emque  convertere?  Nec  tamen,  ut  hoc  fugiendum 
est,  item  est  habendum  religioni  nocentem  aliquando, 
modo  ne  nefarium^  impiumque,  defendere ;  vult  hoc 
multitudo,  patitur  consuetudo,  fert  etiam  humanitas. 
ludicis  est  semper  in  causis  verum  sequi,  patroni  non 
numquam  veri  simile,  etiamsi  minus  sit  verum, 
defendere;  quod  scribere,  praesertim  cum  de  philo- 
sophia  scriberem,  non  auderem,  nisi  idem  placeret 
gravissimo  Stoicorum,  Panaetio.  Maxime  autem  et 
gloria  paritur  et  gratia  defensionibus,  eoque  maior, 
si  quando  accidit,  ut  ei  subveniatur,  qui  potentis 
ahcuius  opibus  circumveniri  urguerique  vidcatur,  ut 
nos  et  saepe  alias  et  adulescentes  contra  L.  Sullae 

^modo  ne  nefarium  L  c,  Edd.;  modo  nefarium  Nonius;  et 
nefarium  B  H  a  b. 

a  A  ''capital  charge"  meant  to  the  Roman  a  charg-e  en- 
dangering  a  person's  capuf,  or  civil  status.     A  conviction 
on  such  a  charge  resulted  in  his  civil  degradation  aiid  the 
loss  of  his  privileg-es  as  a  Roman  citizen. 
220 


BOOK  II.  xiv 

enemies.  And  yet  a  limit  should  be  set  even  to 
that.  For  it  requires  a  heartless  man,  it  seems,  or 
rather  one  who  is  well-nigh  inhuman,  to  be  arraign- 
ing  one  person  after  another  on  capital  charges."  It  is 
not  only  fraught  with  danger  to  the  prosecutor  him- 
self,  but  is  damaging  to  his  reputation,  to  allow 
himself  to  be  called  a  prosecutor.  Such  was  the 
effect  of  this  epithet  upon  Marcus  Brutus,  the  scion 
of  a  very  noble  family  and  the  son  of  that  Brutus  who 
was  an  eminent  authority  in  the  civil  law. 

Again,  the  following  rule  of  duty  is  to  be  carefiill}'  Spare  the  inno- 
observed:  never  prefer  a  capital  charge  against  an\  g?inVy.^*°  '^ 
person  who  may  be  innocent.  For  that  cannot 
possibly  be  done  without  making  oneself  a  criminal. 
For  what  is  so  unnatural  as  to  turn  to  the  ruin  and 
destruction  of  good  men  the  eloquence  bestowed  by 
nature  for  the  safety  and  protection  of  our  fellow- 
men?  And  yet,  while  we  should  never  prosecute 
the  innocent,  we  need  not  have  scruples  against 
undertaking  on  occasion  the  defence  of  a  guilty 
person,  provided  he  be  not  infamously  depraved  and 
wicked.  For  people  expect  it ;  custom  sanctions  it ; 
humanity  also  accepts  it.  It  is  always  the  business  of 
the  judge  in  a  trial  to  find  out  the  truth ;  it  is  some- 
times  the  business  of  the  advocate  to  maintain  what 
is  plausible,  even  if  it  be  not  strictly  true,  though  I 
should  not  venture  to  say  this,  especially  in  an  ethical 
treatise,  if  it  were  not  also  the  position  of  Panaetius, 
that  strictest  of  Stoics.  Then,  too,  briefs  for  the  de- 
fence  are  most  Ukely  to  bring  glory  and  popularity 
to  the  pleader,  and  all  the  more  so,  if  ever  it  falls  to 
him  to  lend  his  aid  to  one  who  seems  to  be  oppressed 
and  persecuted  by  the  influence  of  some  one  in  power. 
This  I  have  done  on  many  other  occasions ;  and  once 

221 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
dominantis  opes  pro  Sex.  Roscio  Amerino  fecimus, 
quae,  ut  scis,  exstat  oratio. 

52  XV.  Sed  expositis  adulescentium  officiis,  quae 
valeant  ad  gloriam  adipiscendam,  deinceps  de  bene- 
ficentia'  ac  de  liberalitate  dicendum  est;  cuius  est 
ratio  duplex ;  nam  aut  opera  benigne  fit  indigentibus 
aut  pecunia.  Facilior  est  haec  posterior,  locupleti 
praesertim,  sed  illa  lautior  ac  splendidior  et  viro  forti 
claroque  dignior.  Quamquam  enim  in  utroque  inest 
gratificandi  liberalis  voluntaSj  tamen  altera  ex  arca, 
altera  ex  vix-tute  depromitur,  largitioque,  quae  fit  e> 
re  familiari,  fontem  ipsum  benignitatis  exhaurit.  Ita 
benignitate  benignitas  tollitur;   qua  quo  in  plures 

53  usus  sis,  eo  minus  in  multos  uti  possis.  At  qui  opera, 
id  est  virtute  et  industria,  benefici  et  liberales  erunt, 
primum,  quo  pluribus  profuerint,  eo  plures  ad  benigne 
faciendum  adiutores  habebunt,  dein  consuetudine 
beneficentiae  paratiores  erunt  et  tamquam  exercita- 
tiores  ad  bene  de  multis  promerendum. 

Praeclare  in'  epistula'  quadam  Alexandrum  fihum 

Philippus    accusat,    quod    largitione    benivolentiam 

Macedonum  consectetur :    Quae  te,  nialum ! "  inquit, 

ratio  in  istam  spem  induxit,  ut  eos  tibi  fideles  pu- 

^beneficentia  Edd.;  beneficientia  MSS.  (ublque). 
'/w  B  H  a  b;  not  in  L  c  p. 
'^epistula  H,  Heine;  epistola  B  L  a  b  C« 
?22 


BOOK  II.  xiv-xv 

in  particular,  in  my  younger  days,  I  defended  Sextui 
Roscius  of  Ameria  against  tlie  power  of  Lucius  Sulla 
when  he  was  acting  the  tyrant.  The  speech  is  pub- 
lished,  as  you  know. 

XV.  Now  that  I  have  set  forth  the  moral  duties  of  Generosity  of 
a  young  man,  in  so  far  as  they  may  be  exerted  for  *^*°  ^ 
the  attainment  of  glory,  I  must  next  in  order  discuss 
kindness  and  generosity.  The  manner  of  showing 
it  is  twofold :  kindness  is  shown  to  the  needy  either 
by  personal  service,  or  by  gifts  of  money.  The  latter 
way  is  the  easier,  especially  for  a  ricli  man ;  but  the 
former  is  nobler  and  more  dignified  and  more  be- 
coming  to  a  strong  and  eminent  man.  For  although 
both  ways  ahke  betray  a  generous  wish  to  oblige, 
still  in  the  one  case  the  favour  makes  a  draft  upon 
pne's  bank  account,  in  the  other  upon  one's  personal 
energy;  and  the  bounty  wliich  is  drawn  from  one's 
material  substance  tends  to  exhaust  the  very  fountain 
of  hberaUty.  LiberaHty  is  thus  forestalled  by  Ube- 
raHty:  for  the  more  people  one  has  helped  with 
gifts  of  money,  the  fewer  one  can  help.  But  if 
people  are  generous  and  kind  in  the  way  of  personal 
service — that  is,  with  their  abiHty  and  personal 
effbrt — various  advantages  arise:  first,  the  more 
people  they  assist,  the  more  lielpers  they  will  have 
in  works  of  kindness ;  and  second,  by  acquiring  the 
habit  of  kindness  they  are  better  prepared  and  in 
better  training,  as  it  were,  for  bestowing  favours 
upon  many. 

In  one  of  his  letters  PhiHp  takes  his  son  Alexander 
sharply  to  task  for  trying  by  gifts  of  money  to  secure 
the  good-wiU  of  the  Macedonians:  "What  in  the 
mischief  induced  you  to  entertain  such  a  hope,"  he 
says,     as  that  those  men  would  be  loyal  subjects  to 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

tares  fore,  quos  pecunia  corrupisses  ?  An  tu  id  agis, 
ut  Macedones  non  te  regem  suum,  sed  ministrum  et 
praebitorem'  sperent  fore  ? " 

Bene  '  ministrum  et  praebitorem,"  *  quia  sordidum 
regi,  melius  etiam,  quod  largitionem  corruptelam" 
dixit  esse;  fit  enim  deterior,  qui  accipit,  atque  ad 
idem  semper  exspectandum  paratior. 

54  Hoc  ille  filio,  sed  praeceptum  putemus  omnibus. 
Quam  ob  rem  id  quidem  non  dubium  est,  quin  illa 

benignitas,  quae  constet  ex  opera  et  industria,  et 
honestior  sit  et  latius  pateat  et  possit  prodesse  pluri- 
bus;  non  numquam  tamen  est  largiendum,  nec  hoc 
benignitatis  genus  omnino  repudiandum  est  et  saepe 
idoneis  hominibus  indigentibus  de  re  familiari  imper- 
tiendum,  sed  diligenter  atque  moderate ;  multi  enim 
patrimonia  effuderunt  inconsulte  largiendo.  Quid 
autem  est  stultius  quam,  quod  libenter  facias,  curare, 
ut  id  diutius  facere  non  possis  ?  Atque  etiam  sequun- 
tur  largitionem  rapinae ;  cum  enim  dando  egere 
coeperunt,  alienis  bonis  manus  afferre  coguntur.  Ita, 
cum  benivolentiae  comparandae  causa  benefici  esse 
vehnt,  non  tanta  studia  assequuntur  eorum,  quibus 
dederunt,  quanta  odia  eorum,  quibus  ademerunt. 

55  Quam  ob  rem  nec  ita  claudenda  res  est  familiaris, 
ut  eam  benignitas  aperire  non  possit,  nec  ita  rese- 
randa,  ut  pateat  omnibus;  modus  idhibeatur,  isque 

^praebitorem  B  H  L  b  c  p;  praebito    m  putafit  a. 
*sperent .  .  .  praebitorem  L  c  p,  Edd      not  in  B  H  a  b. 


ajulius  Caesar  was  a  strikingf  exaniple  of  this. 

bCicero  evidently  had  in  mind  such  instances  as  Sulla, 
Caesar,  Antony,  and  Catiline— o/«V»»  appetens,  sui  pro/usus 
(Sall.,  Cat.  V). 

224 


BOOK  II.  XV 

you  whom  you  had  corrupted  with  money?  Or  are 
you  trying  to  do  what  you  can  to  lead  the  Macedo- 
nians  to  expect  that  you  will  be  not  their  king  but 
their  steward  and  purveyor?" 

Steward  and  purveyor"  was  well  said,  because 
it  was  degrading  for  a  prince ;  better  still,  when  he 
called  the  gift  of  money  corruption."  For  the 
recipient  goes  from  bad  to  worse  and  is  made  all  the 
more  ready  to  be  constantly  looking  for  one  bribe 
after  another. 

It  was  to  his  son  that  Philip  gave  this  lesson ;  but 
let  us  all  take  it  diligently  to  heart. 

That  liberality,  therefore,  which  consists  in  per- 
sonal  service  and  efFort  is  more  honourable,  has  wider 
application,  and  can  benefit  more  people.  There  can 
benodoubtaboutthat.  Nevertheless,weshouldsome-  (i)giftsoj 
times  make  gifts  of  money ;  and  this  kind  of  liberality  ™°°*y' 
is  not  to  be  discouraged  altogether.  We  must 
often  distribute  from  our  purse  to  the  worthy  poor, 
but  we  must  do  so  with  discretion  and  moderation. 
For  many*  have  squandered  their  patrimony  by  in- 
discriminate  giving.  But  what  is  worse  folly  than 
to  do  the  thing  you  like  in  such  a  way  that  you  can 
no  longer  do  it  at  all?  Then,  too,  lavish  giving 
leads  to  robbery'';  for  when  through  over-giving 
men  begin  to  be  impoverished,  they  are  constrained 
to  lay  their  hands  on  the  property  of  others.  And 
so,  when  men  aim  to  be  kind  for  the  sake  of  winning 
good-will,  the  afFection  they  gain  from  the  objects 
of  their  gifts  is  not  so  great  as  the  hatred  they  incur 
from  those  whom  they  despoil. 

One's  purse,  then,  should  not  be  closed  so  tightly 
that  a  generous  impulse  cannot  open  it,  nor  yet  so 
loosely  held  as  to  be  open  to  everybody.     A  limit 
9  SS5 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
referatur  ad  facultates.  Omnino  meminisse  debemus, 
id  quod  a  nostris  hominibus  saepissime  usurpatum 
iam  in  proverbii  consuetudinem  venit,  largitionem 
fundum  non  habere";  etenim  quis  potest  modus  esse, 
cum  et  idem,  qui  consuerunt,  et  idem  illud  alii 
desiderent? 

XVI.  Omnino  duo  sunt  genera  largorum,  quorum 
alteri  prodigi,  alteri  liberales:  prodigi,  qui  epulis  et 
viscerationibus  et  gladiatorum  muneribus,  ludorum 
venationumque  apparatu  pecunias  profundunt  in  eas 
res,.  quarum  memoriam  aut  brevem  aut  nullan: 
56  omnino  sint  relicturi,  liberales  autem,  qui  suis  facul- 
tatibus  aut  captos  a  praedonibus  redimunt  aut  aes 
alienum  suscipiunt  amicorum  aut  in  filiarum  coUoca- 
tione  adiuvant  aut  opitulantur  in  re  vel  quaerenda 
(,56)  vel  augenda.  Itaque  miror,  quid  in  mentem  venerit 
Theophrasto  in  eo  Hbro,  quem  de  divitiis  scripsit ;  in 
quo  multa  praeclate,  illud  absurde :  est  enim  multus 
in  laudanda  magnificentia  et  apparatione  popularium 
munerum  tahumque  sumptuum  facultatem  fructum 
divitiarum  putat.  Mihi  autem  ille  fructus  hberali- 
tatis,  cuius  pauca  exempla  posui,  multo  et  maior 
videtur  et  certior. 
No.  Quanto  Aristoteles  grayius  et  verius  nos  repre- 

lound  In  /r  i 

our  hendit!  qui  has  pecuniarum  eiiusiones  non  admire- 

*ri8totle. 

mur,  quae  fiunt  ad  multitudiuem  dehniendam.     Aii 
226 


BOOK  II.  xv-xvi 

should  be  observed  and  that  Hmit  should  be  deter- 
mined  by  our  means.  We  ought,  in  a  word^  to 
remember  the  phrase,  which,  through  being  repeated 
so  very  often  by  our  eountrymen,  has  come  to  be  a 
common  proverb:  Bounty  has  no  bottom."  For 
indeed  what  Hmit  can  there  be,  when  those  who 
have  been  accustomed  to  receive  gifts  claim  what 
they  have  been  in  the  habit  of  getting,  and  those 
who  have  not  wish  for  the  same  bounty? 

XVI.  There  are,  in  general,  two  classes  of  those  Extravagani 
who  give  largely:  the  one  class  is  the  lavish,  the  ^^^y  "yj^*, 
other  the  generous.  The  lavish  are  those  who 
squander  their  money  on  pubhc  banquets,  doles  of 
meat  among  the  people,  gladiatorial  sliows,  magnifi- 
cent  games,  and  wild-beast  fights— vanities  of  which 
but  a  brief  recollection  will  remain,  or  none  at  all. 

)  The  generous,  on  the  other  hand,  are  those  who 
employ  their  own  means  to  ransom  captives  from 
brigands,  or  who  assume  their  friends'  debts  or  help 
in  providing  dowries  for  their  daughters,  or  assist 
them  in  acquiring  property  or  increasing  what  they 

)  have.  And  so  I  wonder  what  Theophrastus  could 
have  been  thinking  about  when  he  wrote  his  book 
on  Wealth."  It  contains  much  that  is  fine;  but 
his  position  is  absurd,  when  he  praises  at  great  length 
the  magnificent  appointments  of  the  popular  games, 
and  it  is  in  the  means  for  indulging  in  such  expen- 
ditures  that  he  finds  the  highest  privilege  of  weaith. 
But  to  me  the  privilege  it  gives  for  the  exercise  of 
generosity,  of  which  I  have  given  a  few  illustrations, 
seems  far  higher  and  far  more  certain. 

How  much  more  true  and  pertinent  are  Aristotle's 
words,  as  he  rebukes  us  for  not  being  amazed  at  this 
gxtravagant  waste  of  money,  all  to  win  the  fcivour  of 
«2  287 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
enim,  qui  ab  hoste  obsidentur,  si  emere  aquae  sex- 
tarium  cogerentur^mina,  hoc  primo  incredibile  nobis 
videri,  omnesque  mirari,  sed  cum  attenderint,  veniam 
necessitati  dare,  in  his  immanibus  iacturis  infinitisque 
sumptibus  nihil  nos  magnopere  mirari,  cum  praeser- 
tim  neque  necessitati  subveniatur  nec  dignitas 
augeatur  ipsaque  illa  delectatio  multitudinis  ad  breve 
exiguumque  tempus  capiatur,^  eaque  a  levissimo 
quoque,  in  quo  tamen  ipso  una  cum  satietate  memoria 
57  quoque  moriatur  voluptatis."  Bene  etiam  colligit 
haec  pueris  et  mulierculis  et  servis  et  servorum 
simillimis  Hberis  esse  grata,  gravi  vero  homini  et  ea, 
quae  fiunt,  iudicio  certo  ponderanti  probari  posse 
nuUo  modo." 

Quamquam  intellego  in  nostra  civitate  invete 
rasse  iam  bonis  temporibus,  ut  splendor  aediUtatum 
ab  optimis  viris  postuletur.*  Itaque  et  P.  Crassus 
cum  cognomine  dives,  tum  copiis  functus  est  aedilicio 
maximo  munere,  et  paulo  post  L.  Crassus  cum 
omnium  hominum  moderatissimo  Q.  Mucio  magnifi- 
centissima  aedilitate  functus  est,  deinde  C.  Claudius 
App.  f.,  multi  post,  Luculli,  Hortensius,  Silanus; 
omnes  autem  P.  Lentulus  me  consule  vicit  superi- 
ores ;  hunc  est  Scaurus  imitatus ;  magnificentissima 

'  Ait  enim  Ed.;  at  hi  a;  at  hii  H;  at  ii  B  b;  at  htfc 

^  cogerentur  B  H  a  b;  cogantur  L  c  p. 

'  capiatur  Beier;  not  in  MSS. 

*postuletur  B  H  a  b,  Heine;  postularetur  L  c  p,  Bt. 

328 


BOOK  II.  xvi 

the  populace.  If  people  in  time  of  siege,"  he  says, 
"  are  required  to  pay  a  mina  for  a  pint  of  water,  this 
seems  to  us  at  first  beyond  belief,  and  all  are  amazed  ; 
but  when  they  think  about  it,  they  make  allowances 
for  it  on  the  plea  of  necessity.  But  in  the  matter  of 
this  enormous  waste  and  unlimited  expenditure  we 
are  not  very  greatly  astonished,  and  that,  too,  though 
by  it  no  extreme  need  is  relieved,  no  dignity  is  en- 
hanced,  and  the  very  gratification  of  the  populace  is 
but  for  a  brief,  passing  moment ;  such  pleasure  as  it 
is,  too,  is  confined  to  the  most  frivolous,  and  even  in 
these  the  very  memory  of  their  enjoyment  dies  as 
)7  soon  as  the  moment  of  gratification  is  past."  His 
conclusion,  too,  is  excellent:  This  sort  of  amuse- 
ment  pleases  children,  silly  women,  slaves,  and  the 
servile  free ;  but  a  serious-minded  man  who  weighs 
such  matters  with  sound  judgment  cannot  possibly 
approve  of  them." 

And  yet  I  reahze  that  in  our  country,  even  in  the  Magnificent 
good  old  times,  it  had  become  a  settled  custom  to  Ixpected^f 
expect  magnificent  entertainments  from  the  very  ^°  aed»ie. 
best  men  in  their  year  of  aedileship.  So  both  Pub- 
lius  Crassus,  who  was  not  merely  surnamed  The 
Rich"  but  was  rich  in  fact,  gave  splendid  games  in 
his  aedileship;  and  a  little  later  Lucius  Crassus  (with 
Quintus  Mucius,  the  most  unpretentious  man  in  the 
world,  as  his  colleague)  gave  most  magnificent  enter- 
tainments  in  his  aedileship.  Then  came  Gaius 
Claudius,  the  son  of  Appius,  and,  after  him,  many 
others — the  Luculli,  Hortensius,  and  Silanus.  Publius 
Lentulus,  however,  in  the  year  of  my  consulship, 
eclipsed  all  that  had  gone  before  him,  and  Scaurus 
emulated  him.  And  my  friend  Pompey's  exhibitions 
in  his  second  consulship  were  tlie  most  magnificent 

229 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
vero  nostri  Pompei  munera  secundo  consulatu;  in 
quibus  omnibus  quid  mihi  placeat,  vides. 

58  XVII.  Vitanda  tamen  suspicio  est  avaritiae. 
Mamerco,  homini  divitissimo,  pi-aetermissio  aedili- 
tatis  consulatus  repulsam  attulit.  Quare  et,  si  po- 
stulatur  a  populo,  bonis  viris  si  non  desiderantibus,  at 
tamen  approbantibus  faciundum  est,  modo  pro  facul- 
tatibus,  nos  ipsi  ut  fecimus,  et,  si  quando  aliqua  res 
maior  atque  utilior  populari  largitione  acquiritur,  ut 
Oresti  nuper  prandia  in  semitis  decumae  nomine 
magno  honori  fuerunt.  Ne  M.^  quidem  Seio  vitio 
datum  est,  quod  in  caritate  asse  modium  populo 
dedit;  magna  enim  se  et  inveterata  invidia  nec 
turpi  iactura,  quando  erat  aedilis,  nee  maxima  libera- 
vit.  Sed  honori  summo  nuper  nostro  Miloni  fuit. 
qui  gladiatoribus  emptis  rei  publicae  causa,  quae 
salute  nostra  continebatur,  omnes  P.  Clodi  conatus 
furoresque  compressit. 

Causa  igitur  largitionis  est,  si  aut  necesse  est  aut 

59  utile.  In  his^  autem  ipsis  mediocritatis  regula  opti- 
ma  est.  L.  quidem  Pliilippus  Q.  f,  magno  vir 
ingenio  in  primisque  clarus,  gloriari  solebat  se  sine 

>  M.  Orelli,  Ed.;  Ma  co  MSS. 
^his  H,  E<ld.;  hijs  c;  iis  B  b;  is  L. 

aThe  as  was  a  copper  coin  worlh  somewhat  less  thati  a 
penny.  Selling'  grain  to  tiie  people  at  such  a  price  was 
practicaliy  giving  it  away  lo  purchase  their  gfood-will. 


BOOK  II.  xvi-xvii 

of  all.  And  so  you  see  what  I  think  about  all  this 
sort  ot  thing. 
J8  XVII.  Still  we  should  avoid  any  suspicion  of 
peniiriousness.  Mamercus  was  a  very  wealthy  man, 
and  his  refusal  of  the  aedileship  was  the  cause  of  his 
defeat  for  the  consulship.  If,  therefore,  such  enter- 
tainment  is  demanded  by  the  people,  men  of  right  Justificationoi 

sticn  Gxtr«ivft" 

judgment  must  at  least  consent  to  furnish  it,  even  if  gance. 
they  do  not  like  the  idea  But  in  so  doing  they 
should  keep  within  their  means,  as  I  myself  did, 
They  should  hkewise  afford  such  entertainment,  if 
gifts  of  money  to  the  people  are  to  be  the  means  of 
securing  on  some  occasion  some  more  important  or 
more  useful  object.  Thus  Orestes  recently  won 
great  honour  by  his  public  dinners  given  in  the 
streets,  on  the  pretext  of  their  being  a  tithe-offering. 
Neither  did  anybody  find  fault  with  Marcus  Seius 
for  supplying  grain  to  the  people  at  an  as^  the  peck 
at  a  time  when  the  market-price  was  prohibitive; 
for  he  tlius  succeeded  in  disarming  the  bitter  and 
deep-seated  prejudice  of  the  people  against  him  at 
an  outlay  neither  very  great  nor  discreditable  to  him 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  he  was  aedile  at  tlie  time.  But 
tlie  highest  honour  recently  fell  to  my  friend  Milo, 
who  bought  a  band  of  gladiators  for  the  sake  of  the 
country,  whose  preservation  then  depended  upon 
my  recall  from  exile,  and  with  them  put  down  the 
desperate  schemes,  the  reign  of  terror,  of  Publius 
Clodius. 

The  justification  for  gifts  of  money,  therefore,  is 
59  either  necessity  or  expediency.    And  in  making  them 

even  in  such  cases,  the  rule  of  thegolden  mean  is  best.  xhegolden 
To  be  sure,  Lucius  Phihppus,  the  son  of  Quintus,  a  ™^a°'sbe»» 
man  of  great  abihty  and  unusual  renown,  used  to  1 

'^31  '     \' 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
ullo  munere  adeptum  esse  omnia,  quae  haberentur 
amplissima.  Dieebat  idem  Cotta,  Curio.  Nobis 
quoque  lieet  in  hoc  quodam  modo  gloriari ;  nam  pro 
amplitudine  honorum,  quos  cunetis  sufFragiis  adepti 
sumus  nostro  quidem  anno,  quod  contigit  eorum 
nemini,  quos  modo  nominavi,  sane  exiguus  sumptus 
aedilitatis  fuit. 
60  Atque  etiam  illae  impensae  meh'ores,  muri,  navaha, 
portus,  aquarum  ductus  omniaque,  quae  ad  usum  rei 
pubhcae  pertinent.  Quamquam,  quod  praesens  tam- 
quam  in  manum  datur,  iucundius  est;  tamen  haec 
in  posterum  gratiora.  Theatra,  porticus,  nova  templa 
verecundius  reprehendo  propter  Pompeium,  sed  do- 
ctissimi  non  probant,  ut  et  hic  ipse  Panaetius,  quem 
multum  in  his  Ubris  secutus  sum,  non  interpretatus, 
et  Phalereus  Demetrius,  qui  Periclem,  principem 
Graeciae,  vituperat,  quod  tantam  pecuniam  in  prae- 
clara  illa  propylaea  coniecerit.  Sed  de  hoc  genere 
r^*P°'^-  toto  in  iis  libris,  quos  de  re  pubHca  scripsi,  diUgen- 

lotefMt.  *^^  ^^*'  disputatum. 

Tota  igitur  ratio  talium  largitionum  genere  vitiosa 

est,  temporibus  necessaria,  et  tum  ipsum  et  ad  facul- 

tates  accommodanda  et  mediocritate  moderanda  est. 

^l        XVIII.  In  illo  autem  altero  genere  largiendi,  quod 

"  The  saving  clause  is  added,  because  Cicero  never  filled 
the  office  of  Censor. 
888 


BOOK  II.  xvii-xviii 

make  it  his  boast  that  without  giving  any  entertain- 
ments  he  had  risen  to  all  the  positions  looked  upon 
as  the  highest  within  the  gift  of  the  state.  Cotta 
could  say  the  same,  and  Curio.  I,  too,  may  make 
this  boast  my  own — to  a  certain  extent* ;  for  in  com- 
parison  with  the  eminence  of  the  offices  to  which  I 
was  unanimously  elected  at  the  earUest  legal  age — 
and  this  was  not  the  good  fortune  of  any  one  of 
those  just  mentioned — the  outlay  in  my  aedileship 
was  very  inconsiderable. 

Again,  the  expenditure  of  money  is  better  justified  LavUh 

,..  ic  n         1111  expenditure  on 

when  it  is  made  lor  walls,  docks,  narbours,  aque-  pubUc  works. 
ducts,  and  all  those  works  which  are  of  service  to 
the  community.  There  is,  to  be  sure,  more  of  present 
satisfaction  in  what  is  handed  out,  Uke  cash 
down;  nevertheless  pubHc  improvements  win  us 
greater  gratitude  with  posterity.  Out  of  respect 
for  Pompey's  memory  I  am  rather  diffident  about 
expressing  any  criticism  of  theatres,  colonnades,  and 
new  temples ;  and  yet  the  greatest  philosophers  do 
not  approve  of  them — our  Panaetius  himself,  for 
example,  whom  I  am  following,  not  slavishly  trans- 
lating,  in  these  books;  so,  too,  Demetrius  of 
Phalerum,  who  denounces  Pericles,  the  foremost 
man  of  Greece,  for  throwing  away  so  much  money 
on  the  magnificent,  far-famed  Propylaea,  But  this 
whole  theme  is  discussed  at  length  in  my  books  on 
The  Repubhc." 

To  conclude,  the  whole  system  of  pubUc  bounties 
in  such  extravagant  amount  is  intrinsically  wrong; 
but  it  may  under  certain  circumstances  be  necessary 
to  make  them ;  even  then  they  must  be  proportioned 
to  our  abiUty  and  regulated  by  the  golden  mean. 

XVIII.  Now,  as  touching  that  second  division  of  ben«ficence** 

«33 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
a  liberalitate  proficiscitur,  non  uno  modo  in  dispari- 
bus   causis   affecti    esse   debemus.     Alia   causa  est 
eius,  qui  calamitate  premitur,  et  eius,  qui  res  me- 

62  liores  quaerit  nullis  suis  rebus  adversis.  Propensior 
benignitas  esse  debebit  in  calamitosos,  nisi  forte 
erunt  digni  calamitate.  In  iis  tamen,  qui  se  adiu- 
vari  volent,  non  ne  affligantur,  sed  ut  altiorem 
gradum  ascendant,  restricti  omnino  esse  nullo  modo 
debemus,  sed  in  deligendis  idoneis  iudicium  et  dili- 
gentiam  adhibere.     Nam  praeclare  Ennius: 

Bene  facta  male  locata  i»iale  facta  arbitror. 

63  Quod  autem  tributum  est  bono  viro  et  grato,  in  eo 
cum  ex  ipso  fructus  est,  tum  etiam  ex  ceteris.  Teme- 
ritate  enim  remota  gratissima  est  liberalitas,  eoqut 
eam  studiosius  plerique  laudant,  quod  summi  cuius- 
que  bonitas  commune  perfugium  est  omnium.  Danda 
igitur  opera  est,  ut  iis  beneficiis  quam  plurimos  af- 
ficiamus,  quorum  memoria  liberiS  posterisque  pro- 
datur,  ut  iis  ingratis  esse  non  liceat.  Omnes  enim 
immemorem  beneficii  oderunt  eamque  iniuriam  in 
deterrenda  liberalitate  sibi  etiam  fieri  eumque,  qui 
faciat,  communem  hostem  tenuiorum  putant. 

Atque  haec  benignitas  etiam  rei  publicae  est  utihs, 
redimi  e  servitute  captos,  locupletari  tenuiores ;  (juod 


BOOK  II.  xviii 

gifts  of  money,  those  which  are  prompted  by  a  spirli 
of  generosity,  we  oiight  to  look  at  different  cases 
difFerently.  Tlie  case  of  the  man  who  is  over- 
whelmed  by  misfortune  is  different  from  that  of  tlie 
one  who  is  seeking  to  better  his  condition,  though 
he  sufFers  from  no  actual  distress.  It  will  be  the 
duty  of  charity  to  incline  more  to  the  unfortunate, 
unless,  perchance,  they  deserve  their  misfortune. 
But  of  course  we  ought  by  no  means  to  withhold 
our  assistance  altogether  from  those  who  wish  for 
aid,  not  to  save  them  from  utter  ruin  but  to  enable 
them  to  reach  a  higher  degree  of  fortune.  But  in 
selecting  worthy  cases,  we  ought  to  use  judgment 
and  discretion.      For,  as  Eimius  says  so  admirably, 

Good  deeds  misplaced,  xnethinks,  are  evil  deeds." 

Furthermore,  the  favour  conferred  upon  a  man 
who  is  good  and  grateful  finds  its  reward,  in  such  a 
case,  not  only  in  his  own  good-will  but  in  that  of 
others.  For  when  generosity  is  not  indiscriminate 
giving,  it  wins  most  gratitude  and  people  praise  it 
with  more  enthusiasm,  because  goodness  of  heart  in 
a  man  of  high  station  becomes  the  common  refuge 
of  everybody.  Pains  must,  therefore,  be  taken  to 
benefit  as  many  as  possible  with  such  kindnesses 
that  the  memory  of  them  shall  be  handed  down  to 
children  and  to  children's  children,  so  that  they  too 
may  not  be  ungrateful.  For  all  men  detest  in- 
gratitude  and  look  upon  the  sin  of  it  as  a  wrong 
committed  against  themselves  also,  because  it  dis- 
courages  generosity ;  and  they  regard  the  ingrate  as 
the  common  foe  of  all  the  poor. 

Ransoming  prisoners  from  servitude  and  relieving 
^he  poor  is  a  form  of  eharity  that  is  a  service  to  the 

235 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quidem  volgo  solitum  fieri  ab  ordine  nostro  in  ora- 
tione  Crassi  scriptum  copiose  videmus.  Hanc  ergo^ 
consuetudinem  benignitatis  largitioni  munerum  longe^ 
antepono;  haec  est  gravium  hominum  atque  ma- 
gnorum,  illa  quasi  assentatorum  populi  multitudinis 
levitatem  voluptate  quasi  titillantium. 
64  Conveniet  autem  cum  in  dando  munificum  esse, 
tum  in  exigendo  non  acerbum  in  omnique  re  contra- 
henda,  vendundo  emendo,  conducendo  locando, 
vicinitatibus  et  confiniis,  aequum,  facilem,  multa 
multis  de  suo  iure  cedentem,  a  Utibus  vero,  quan- 
tum  liceat  et  nescio  an  paulo  plus  etiam,  quam 
liceat,  abhorrentem.  Est  enim  non  modo  Uberale 
paulum  non  numquam  de  suo  iure  decedere,  sed 
interdum  etiam  fructuosum.  Habenda  autem  ratio 
est  rei  familiaris,  quam  quidem  dilabi^  sinere  flagi- 
tiosum  est,  sed  ita,  ut  illiberalitatis  avaritiaeque 
absit  suspicio ;  posse  enim  liberalitate  uti  non  spoli- 
antem  se  patrimonio  nimirum  est  pecuniae  fructus 
maximus. 

Recte  etiam  a  Theophrasto  est  laudata  hospitalitas ; 
est  enim,  ut  mihi  quidem  videtur,  valde  decorura 
patere  domus  hominum  illustrium  hospitibus  illu- 
stribus,  idque  etiam  rei  pubHcae  est  ornamento, 
homines  externos  hoc  Hberalitatis  genere  in  urbe 
nostra  non  egere.     Est   autem  etiam   vehementer 

^ ergo  B  H  a  b,  Muller;  ego  L  c  p,  Lactantius,  Bi.,  Heinp 
^longe  L  c  p,  Lactantius,  Edd. ;  nnt  in  B  H  a  b, 
*dilabi  L  c,  Ed.,  Heine;  delabi  B  H  a  b,  Bt. 


BOOK  II.  xviii 

state  as  well  as  to  the  iiidividual.  And  we  find  in 
one  of  Crassus's  orations  the  full  proof  given  that 
such  beneficence  used  to  be  the  common  practice 
of  our  order.  This  form  of  charity,  then,  I  much 
prefer  to  the  lavish  expenditure  of  money  for  public 
exhibitions.  The  former  is  suited  to  men  of  worth 
and  dignity,  the  latter  to  those  shallow  flatterers,  if 
I  may  call  them  so,  who  tickle  with  idle  pleasure, 
so  to  speak,  the  fickle  fancy  of  the  rabble. 

It  will,  moreover,  befit  a  gentleman  to  be  at  the 
same  time  Hberal  in  giving  and  not  inconsiderate  in 
exacting  his  dues,  but  in  every  business  relation — 
in  buying  or  selHng,  in  hiring  or  letting,  in  relations 
arising  out  of  adjoining  houses  and  lands — to  be  fair, 
reasonable,  often  freely  yielding  much  of  his  own 
right,  and  keeping  out  of  Htigation  as  far  as  his 
interests  wiU  permit  and  perhaps  even  a  Httle 
farther.  For  it  is  not  only  generous  occasionally  to 
abate  a  Httle  of  one's  rightful  claims,  but  it  is  some- 
times  even  advantageous.  We  should,  however, 
have  a  care  for  our  personal  property,  for  it  is  dis- 
creditable  to  let  it  run  through  our  fingers ;  but  we 
must  guard  it  in  such  a  way  that  there  shall  be  no 
suspicion  of  meanness  or  avarice.  For  the  greatest 
privilege  of  wealth  is,  beyond  all  peradventure,  the 
opportunity  it  affords  for  doing  good,  without  sacri- 
ficing  one's  fortune. 

Hospitality  also  is  a  theme  of  Theophrastus's  praise,  Another  ejt- 
and  rightly  so.      For,  as  it  seems  to  me  at  least,  it  is  ^enefiMiTce  is 
most  proper  that  the  homes  of  distinguished  men  hospitaiity. 
should  be  open  to  distinguished  guests.     And  it  is 
to  the  credit  of  our  country  also   that  men  from 
abroad  do  not  fail  to  find  hospitable  entertainment 
of  this  kind  in  our  city.     It  is,  moreover,  a  very 

237 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

litile  iis,  qui  honeste  posse  multum  volunt,  per 
hospites  apud  externos  populos  valere  opibus  et 
gratia.  Theoplirastus  quidem  scribit  Cimonem 
Athenis  etiam  in  suos  curiales  Laciadas  hospitalem 
fuisse ;  ita  enim  instituisse  et  vilicis  imperavisse,  ut 
omnia  praeberentur,  quicumque  Laciades  in  villam 
suam  devertisset. 
65  XIX.  Quae  autem  opera,  non  largitione  beneficia 
dantur,  haec  tum  in  universam  rem  publicam,  tum 
in  singulos  cives  conferuntur.  Nam  in  iure  cavere 
[jConsilio  iuvare  J  atque  hoc  scientiae  genere  prodesse 
quam  plurimis  vehementer  et  ad  opes  augendas 
pertinet  et  ad  gratiam. 

Itaque  cum  multa  praeclara  maiorum,  tum  quod 
optime  constituti  iuris  civiiis  summo  semper  in  honore 
fuit  cognitio  atque  interpretatio ;  quam  quidem  ante 
hanc  confusionem  temporum  in  possessione  sua  prin- 
cipes  retinuerunt,  nunc,  ut  honores,  ut  omnes  digni- 
tatis  gradus,  sic  huius  scientiae  splendor  deletus  est, 
idque  eo  indignius,  quod  eo  tempore  hoc  contigit, 
cum  is  esset,  qui  omnes  superiores,  quibus  honore  par 
esset,  scientia  facile  vicisset.  Haec  igitur  opera 
grata  multis  et  ad  beneficiis  obstringendos  homines 
accommodata. 

^consilio  iuvare  MSS.,  Ed. ;  bracketedby  Muther,  Miiller, 
Heiiie. 

«Acts  of  kindness  and  peisonal  service  mean  to  Cicero 
throughoul  this  discussioii  the  services  of  the  lawyer,  which 
were  voluntary  and  gratis. 

b  This   eniinent  jurist    was   Servius   Sulpicius    Lcmonia 
Rufus,  a  close  friend  of  Ciccro,  author  of  Ihe  weil-known 
letter  of  condolence  to  Cicero  on  the  death  of  his  daughter 
Tullia. 
288 


BOOK  II.  xviii-xix 

great  advantage,  too,  for  tliose  who  wish  to  obtain  a 
powerful  poHtical  influence  by  honourable  means  to 
be  able  through  their  social  relations  with  their 
guests  to  enjoy  popularity  and  to  exert  influence 
abroad.  For  an  instance  of  extraordinary  hospi- 
tahty,  Theophrastus  writes  that  at  Athens  Cimon 
was  hospitable  even  to  the  Laciads,  the  people  of 
his  own  deme ;  for  he  instructed  his  bailiffs  to  that 
end  and  gave  them  orders  that  every  attention 
should  be  shown  to  any  Laciad  who  should  ever  call 
at  his  country  home. 

XIX.  Again,  the  kindnesses  shown  not  by  gifts  (2)  personal 
of  money  but  by  personal  service*  are  bestowed  ^^"^^"^** 
sometimes  upon  the  community  at  large,  sometimes 
upon  individual  citizens.  To  protect  a  man  in  his 
legal  rights  [,to  assist  him  with  counsel,]  and  to  serve 
as  many  as  possible  with  that  sort  of  knowledge 
tends  grentlj'  to  increase  one*s  influence  and  popu- 
larity. 

Thus,  among  the  many  admirable  ideas  of  our  The  professioi^ 
ancestors  was  the  high  respectthey  always  accorded  to  °  *** 
the  study  and  interpretation  of  the  excellent  body 
of  our  civil  law.  And  down  to  the  present  unsettled 
times  the  foremost  men  of  the  state  have  kept  this 
profession  exclusively  in  their  own  hands ;  but  now 
the  prestige  of  legal  learning  has  departed  along 
with  offices  of  honour  and  positions  of  dignity;  and 
this  is  the  more  deplorable,  because  it  has  come  to 
pass  in  the  lifetime  of  a  man**  who  in  knowledge  of 
the  law  would  easily  have  surpassed  all  his  prede- 
cessors,  while  in  honour  he  is  their  peer.     Service  ' 

such  as  this,  then,  finds  many  to  appreciate  it  and  is 
calculated  to  bind  people  closely  to  us  by  our  good 
services. 

239 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

66  Atque  huic  arti  finitima  est  dicendi  [gravior] 
facultas  ^  et  gratior  et  ornatior.  Quid  enim  eloquentia 
praestabilius  vel  admiratione  audientium  vel  spe  in- 
digentium  vel  eorum,  qui  defensi  sunt,  gratia? 
Huic  [quoquej  ergo^  a  maioribus  nostris  est  in  toga 
dignitatis^  principatus  datus.  Diserti  igitur  hominis 
et  facile  laborantis,  quodque  in  patriis  est  moribus, 
multorum  causas  et  non  gravate  et  gratuito  defen- 
dentis  beneficia  et  patrocinia  late  patent. 

67  Admonebat  me  res,  ut  hoc  quoque  loco  intermis- 
sionem  eloquentiae,  ne  dicam  interitum,  deplorarem, 
ni  vererer,  ne  de  me  ipso  aliquid  viderer  queri.  Sed 
tamen  videmus,  quibus  exstinctis  oratoribus  quam 
in  paucis  spes,  quanto  in  paucioribus  facultas,  quam 
in  multis  sit  audacia.  Cum  autem  omnes  non  possint, 
ne  multi  quidem,  aut  iuris  periti  esse  aut  diserti, 
licet  tamen  opera  prodesse  multis  beneficia  petentem, 
commendantem  iudicibus,  magistratibus,  vigilantem 
pro  re  alterius,  eos  ipsos,  qui  aut  consuluntur  aut 
defendunt,  rogantem;  quod  qui  faciunt,  plurimum 
gratiae  consequuntur,  latissimeque  eorum  manat 
industria. 

68  lam  illud  non  sunt  admonendi  (est  enim  in 
promptu),  ut  animadvertant,  cum  iuvare  alios  vehnt, 
ne  quos  ofFendant.     Saepe  enim  aut  eos  laedunt, 

'  dtcendi gravior  facultas  B  H  b;  gravior  facultas  L  c  p; 
dicendi[gravior]facultas  Ed. ;  dicendi  facultas  Lambinus 

*  huic  quoque  ergo  B  H  L  b  c,  Bt.;  nuic  ergo  Facciolati; 
huic  [quoque]  ergo  Ed. 

*  in  toga  dignitatis  Lc  p,  Edd.;  in  tota  dignitatis,  B  H  b  ; 
tn  tota  dignitate  a. 

240 


BOOK  11.  xix 

Closely  connected  with  this  profession,  further-  Eioquence 
more,  is  the  gift  of  eloquence ;  it  is  at  once  more  ^'  '^*^  ^^^' 
popular  and  more  distinguished.  For  what  is  better 
than  eloquence  to  awaken  the  admiration  of  one's 
hearers  or  the  hopes  of  the  distressed  or  the  gratitude 
of  those  whom  it  has  protected  ?  It  was  to  eloquence, 
therefore,  that  our  fathers  assigned  the  foremost 
rank  among  the  civil  professions.  The  door  of  op- 
portunity  for  generous  patronage  to  others,  then,  is 
wide  open  to  the  orator  whose  heart  is  in  his  work 
and  who  follows  the  custom  of  our  forefathers  in 
undertaking  the  defence  of  many  clients  without 
reluctance  and  without  compensation. 

My  subject  suggests  that  at  this  point  I  express  The  decUne  of 
once  more  my  regret  at  the  decadence,  not  to  say  ®'°i"^"'^*- 
the  utter  extinction,  of  eloquence ;  and  I  should  do 
so,  did  I  not  fear  that  people  would  think  that  I 
were  complaining  on  my  own  account.  We  see, 
nevertheless,  what  orators  have  lost  their  lives  and 
how  few  of  any  promise  are  left,  how  far  fewer  there 
are  who  have  ability,  and  how  many  there  are  who 
have  nothing  but  presumption,  But  though  not  all 
— no,  not  even  many — can  be  learned  in  the  law  or 
eloquent  as  pleaders,  still  anybody  may  be  of  service 
to  many  by  canvassing  in  their  support  for  appoint- 
ments,  by  witnessing  to  their  character  before  juries 
and  magistrates,  by  looking  out  for  the  interests  of 
one  and  another,  and  by  soliciting  for  them  the  aid 
of  jurisconsults  or  of  advocates.  Those  who  perform 
such  services  win  the  most  gratitude  and  find  a 
most  extensive  sphere  for  their  activities. 

Of  course,  those  who  pursue  such  a  course  do  not  a  waming  to 
need  to  be  warned  (for  the  point  is  self-evident)  to  «'oquence. 
be  careful  when  they  seek  to  oblige  some,  not  to 
R  241 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quos  non  debent,  aut  eos,  quos  non  expedit;  si 
imprudentes,  neglegentiae  est,  si  scientes,  temeri- 
tatis.  Utendum  etiam  est  excusatione  adversus  eos,. 
quos  invitus  ofFendas,  quacumque  possis,  quare  id^ 
quod  feceriSj  necesse  fuerit  nec  aliter  facere  potueris, 
ceterisque  operis  et  officiis  erit  id,  quod  violatum 
videbitur/  compensandum. 
69  XX.  Sed  cum  in  hominibus  iuvandis  aut  mores 
spectari  aut  fortuna  soleat,  dictu  quidem  est  proclive, 
itaque  volgo  loquuntur,  se  in  beneficiis  collocandis 
mores  hominum,  non  fortunam  sequi.  Honesta 
oratio  est ;  sed  quis  est  tandem,  qui  inopis  et  optimi 
viri  causae  non  anteponat  in  opera  danda  gratiam 
fortunati  et  potentis?  a  quo  enim  expeditior  et 
celerior  remuneratio  fore  videtur,  in  eum  fere  est 
voluntas  nostra  propensior.  Sed  animadvertendum 
est  dihgentius,  quae  natura  rerum  sit.  Nimirum 
enim  inops  ille,  si  bonus  est  vir,  etiamsi  referre 
gratiam  non  potest,  habere  certe  potest.  Commode 
autem,  quicumque  dixit^  pecuniam  qui  habeat,  non 
reddidisse,  qui  reddiderit,  non  habere,  gratiam 
autem  et,  qui  rettulerit,  habere  ^  et,  qui  habeat,  rettu- 
hsse." 

At  qui  se  locupletes,  honoratos,  beatos  putant,  ii 
ne  obhgari  quidem  beneficio  volunt;  quin  etiam 
beneficium  se  dedisse  arbitrantur,  cum  ipsi  quamvis 

^videbitur  L  c  p,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  b;  est,  a. 
*gratiam .  .  .  habere  L  c  p,  Edd.;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 
542 


BOOK  II.  xix-xx 

ofFend  others.  For  oftentimes  they  hurt  those  whom 
they  ought  not  or  those  whom  it  is  inexpedient  to 
offend.  If  they  do  it  inadvertently,  it  is  carelessness ; 
if  designedly,  inconsiderateness.  A  man  must  apolo- 
gize  also,  to  the  best  of  his  abiHty,  if  he  has  involun- 
tarily  hurt  anyone's  feelingSj  and  explain  why  what 
he  has  done  was  unavoidable  and  why  he  could  not 
have  done  otherwise ;  and  he  must  by  future  services 
and  kind  offices  atone  for  the  apparent  offence. 

XX.  Now  in  rendering  helpful  service  to  people,  xhebasisfor 
we  usually  consider  either  their  character  or  their  i^^character  not 
circumstances.  And  so  it  is  an  easy  remark^  and  fortune. 
one  commonly  made,  to  say  that  in  investing  kind- 
nesses  we  look  not  to  people's  outward  circum- 
stances,  but  to  their  character.  The  phrase  is 
admirable !  But  who  is  there^  pray,  that  does  not  in 
performing  a  service  set  the  favour  of  a  rich  and  in- 
fluential  man  above  the  cause  of  a  poor,  though  most 
worthy,  person  ?  For,  as  a  rule,  our  will  is  more  in- 
clined  to  the  one  from  whom  we  expect  a  prompter 
and  speedier  return.  But  we  should  observe  more 
carefully  how  the  matter  really  stands :  the  poor  man 
of  whom  we  spoke  cannot  return  a  favour  in  kind,  of 
course,  but  if  he  is  a  good  man  he  can  do  it  at  least 
in  thankfulness  of  heart.  As  some  one  has  happily 
said,  A  man  has  not  repaid  money,  if  he  still  has  it ; 
if  he  has  repaid  it,  he  has  ceased  to  have  it.  But  a 
man  still  has  the  sense  of  favour,  if  he  has  returned 
tlie  favour ;  and  if  he  has  the  sense  of  the  favour,  he 
has  repaid  it." 

On  the  other  hand,  they  who  consider  themselves 

wealthy,  honoured,  the  favourites  of  fortune,  do  not 

wish  even  to  be  put  under  obhgations  by  our  kind 

services.     Why,  they  actually  think  that  they  have 

r2  243 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

magnum  aliquod  acceperint,  atque  etiam  a  se  aut 
postulari  aut  exspectari  aliquid  suspicantur,  patro- 
cinio  vero  se   usos  aut  clientes  appellari  mortis  instar 

70  putant.  At  vero  ille  tenuis,  cum,  quicquid  factum 
sit,  se  spectatum,  non  fortunam  putet,^  non  modo  illi, 
qui  est  meritus^  sed  etiam  illis,  a  quibus  exspectat 
(eget  enim  multis),  gratum  se  videri  studet  neque 
vero  verbis  auget  suum  munus,  si  quo  forte  fungitur, 
sed  etiam  extenuat.  Videndumque  illud  est,  quod, 
si  opulentum  fortunatumque  defenderis,  in  uno  illo 
aut,  si  ^  forte,  in  liberis  eius  manet  gratia ;  sin  autenc 
inopem,  probum  tamen  et  modestum,  omnes  non 
improbi  humiles,  quae  magna  in  populo  multitudo 

71  est,  praesidium  sibi  paratum  vident.  Quam  ob  rera 
melius  apud  bonos  quam  apud  fortunatos  beneficiunv 
coUocari  puto. 

Danda  omnino  opera  est,  ut  omni  generi  satis 
facere  possimus;  sed  si  res  in  contentionem  veniet, 
nimirum  Themistocles  est  auctor  adhibendus;  qui 
cum  consuleretur,  utrum  bono  viro  pauperi  an  minus 
probato  diviti  filiam  collocaret:  Ego  vero,"  inquit, 
malo  virum,  qui  pecunia  egeat,  quam  pecuniam, 
quae  viro,"     Sed  corrupti  mores  depravatique  sunt 

^vero  j«  B  H  a  b;  vero  tuo  y^  L  c  p 

'^putefEd.',  putat  MSS. 

^  st  L  c  p,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 

244 


BOOK  II.  XX 

conferred  a  favour  by  accepting  one,  however  great ; 
and  they  even  suspect  that  a  claim  is  thereby  set  up 
against  them  or  that  something  is  expected  in  return. 
Nay  more,  it  is  bitter  as  death  to  them  to  have 

70  accepted  a  patron  or  to  be  called  clients.  Your  man 
of  slender  means,  on  the  other  hand,  feels  that  what- 
ever  is  done  for  him  is  done  out  of  regard  for  him- 
self  and  not  for  his  outward  circumstances.  Hence  Thepoormaa's 
he  strives  to  show  himself  grateful  not  only  to  the  ^^^  '  "  ^' 
one  who  has  obhged  him  in  the  past  but  also  to  those 
from  whom  he  expects  similar  favours  in  the  future 
— and  he  needs  the  help  of  many;  and  his  own 
service,  if  he  happens  to  render  any  in  return,  he  does 
not  exaggerate,  but  he  actually  depreciates  it.  This 
fact,  furthermore,  should  not  be  overlooked — that  if 
one  defends  a  wealthy  favourite  of  fortune,  the 
favour  does  not  extend  further  than  to  the  man  him- 
self  or,  possibly,  to  his  children.  But  if  one  defends 
a  man  who  is  poor  but  honest  and  upright,  all  the 
lowly  who  are  not  dishonest — and  there  is  a  large 
proportion  of  that  sort  among  the  people — look  upon 
such  an  advocate  as  a  tower  of  defence  raised  up  for 

Tl  them.  I  think,  therefore,  that  kindness  to  the  good 
is  a  better  investment  than  kindness  to  the  favour- 
ites  of  fortune. 

We  must,  of  course,  put  forth  every  efFort  to  obHge 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  if  we  can.  But  if  it 
comes  to  a  conflict  of  duty  on  this  point,  we  must,  I 
should  say,  follow  the  advice  of  Themistocles :  when 
some  one  asked  his  advice  whether  he  should  give 
his  daughter  in  marriage  to  a  man  who  was  poor  but 
honest  or  to  one  who  was  rich  but  less  esteemed,  he  Weaith  no 
said :  "  For  my  part,  I  prefer  a  man  without  money  nor"a  b?r^to 
to  money  without  a  man."     But  the  moral  sense  of  personai  swvim 

245 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

admiratione  divitiarum ;  quarum  magnitudo  quid  ad 
unum  quemque  nostrum  pertinet?  Illum  fortasse 
adiuvat,  qui  habet.  Ne  id  quidem  semper ;  sed  fac 
iuvare;  utentior^  sane  sit,  honestior  vero  quomodo? 
Quodsi  etiam  bonus  erit  vir,  ne  impediant  divitiae, 
quo  minus  iuvetur,  modo  ne  adiuvent,  sitque  omne 
iudicium,  non  quam  locuples,  sed  qualis  quisque  sit ! 
Extremum  autem  praeceptum  in  beneficiis  opera- 
que  danda,  ne  quid  contra  aequitatem  contendas,  ne 
quid  pro  iniuria;  fundamentum  enim  est  perpetuae 
commendationis  et  famae  iustitia,  sine  qua  nihil 
potest  esse  laudabile. 
72  XXI.  Sed,  quoniam  de  eo  genere  beneficiorum 
dictum  est,  quae  ad  singulos  spectant,  deinceps  de 
iis,  quae  ad  universos  quaeque  ad  rem  publicam 
pertinent,  disputandum  est.  Eorum  autem  ipsorum 
partim^  eius  modi  sunt,  ut  ad  universos  cives  perti- 
neant,  partim,  singulos  ut  attingant;  quae  sunt 
etiam  gratiora.  Danda  opera  est  omnino,  si  possit, 
utrisque,  nec  minus,  ut  etiam  singulis  consulatur,  sed 
ita,  ut  ea  res  aut  prosit  aut  certe  ne  obsit  rei  publicae. 
C.  Gracchi  frumentaria  magna  largitio;  exhauriebat 
igitur  aerarium;  modica  M.   Octavi  et  rei  publicae 

^  utenfwr  MSS.,  Bt.*,  Heine;  potentior  later  MSS.;  opit- 
lentior  one  MS.  (C.  Lanj^e),  Lambinus,  Bt.*,  Muller. 
'  partim  L  c  p,  Edd.;   quae  {que=quae  H)  partim  B  H  a  b. 
246 


BOOK  11.  xx-xxi 

to-day  is  demoralized  and  depraved  by  our  worship 
of  wealth.  Of  what  concern  to  any  one  of  us  is  the 
size  of  another  man's  fortune?  It  is,  perhaps^  an 
advantage  to  its  possessor ;  but  not  always  even  that. 
But  suppose  it  is;  he  may,  to  be  sure,  have  more 
money  to  spend ;  but  how  is  he  any  the  better  man 
for  that?  Still,  if  he  is  a  good  man,  as  well  as  a  rich 
one,  let  not  his  riches  be  a  hindrance  to  his  being 
aided,  if  only  they  are  not  the  motive  to  it ;  but  in 
conferring  favours  our  decisionshoulddepend  entirely 
upon  a  man's  charactei^  not  on  his  wealth. 

The  supreme  rule,  then^  in  the  matter  of  kind- 
nesses  to  be  rendered  by  personal  service  is  never 
to  take  up  a  case  in  opposition  to  the  right  nor 
in  defence  of  the  wrong.  For  the  foundation 
of  enduring  reputation  and  fame  is  justice,  and 
without  justice  there  can  be  nothing  worthy  of 
praise. 

XXI.  Now,  since  we  have  finished  the  discussion  servke  to  the 
of  that  kind  of  helpful  services  which  concern  indi-  ^^^*-^  through 

^  personal  service 

vidualsj  we  must  next  take  up  those  which  touch  the  to  individuais 
whole  body  pohtic  and  the  state.  Of  these  pubHc 
services,  some  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  concern 
the  whole  body  of  citizens ;  others,  that  they  affect 
individuals  only.  And  these  latter  are  the  more  pro- 
ductive  of  gratitude.  If  possible,  we  should  by  all 
means  attend  to  both  kinds  of  service ;  but  we  must 
take  care  in  protecting  the  interests  of  individuals 
that  what  we  do  for  them  shall  be  beneficial,  or  at 
least  not  prejudicial  to  the  state.  Gaius  Gracchus 
inaugurated  largesses  of  grain  on  an  extensive  scale ; 
this  had  a  tendency  to  exhaust  the  exchequer. 
Marcus  Octavius  inaugurated  a  moderate  dole ;  thi 
was  both  practicable  for  the  state  and  necessary  fo 

247 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
tolerabilis  et  plebi  necessaria;  ergo  et  civibus  et  rei 
publicae  salutaris. 

73  In  primis  autem  videndum  erit  ei,  qui  rem  publi- 
cam  administrabit,  ut  suum  quisque  teneat  neque  de 
bonis  privatorum  publice  deminutio  fiat.  Perniciose 
enim  Philippus,  in  tribunatu  cum  legem  agrariam 
ferret,  quam  tamen  antiquari  facile  passus  est  et  in 
eo  vehementer  se  moderatum  praebuit — sed  cum  in 
agendo  multa  populariter,  tum  illud  male,  "non  esse 
in  civitate  duo  milia  hominum,  qui  rem  haberent." 
Capitalis  oratio  est,  ad  aequationem  bonorum  perti- 
nens ;  qua  peste  quae  potest  esse  maior  ?  Hanc  enim 
ob  causam  maxime,  utsua  tenerentur,  res  publicae 
civitatesque  constitutae  sunt.  Nam,  etsi  duce  natura 
congregabantur  homines,  tamen  spe  custodiae  rerum 
suarum  urbium  praesidia  quaerebant. 

74  Danda  etiam  opera  est,  ne,  quod  apud  maiores  no- 
stros  saepe  fiebat  propter  aerarii  tenuitatem  assidui- 
tatemque  bellorum,  tributum  sit  conferendum,  idque 
ne  eveniat,  multo  ante  erit  providendum.  Sin  quae 
necessitas  huius  muneris  alicui  rei  publicae  obvenerit 
(malo  enim    quam  nostrae  ominari ;  neque  tamen  de 

^malo  enim  B  H  L  b  p;  mulo   enim   alii  a;  malo  enim 
aliene  (      alienae)  c 

248 


BOOK  II.  xxi 

the  commons;  it  was,  therefore,  a  blessing  both  to 
the  citizens  and  to  the  state. 

The  man  in  an  administrative  officej  however, must  xhe statesmans 
make  it  his  first  care  that  every  one  shall  have  what  nY^ro' er[^ 
belongs  to  him  and  that  private  citizens  sufFer  no  in-  rights, 
vasion  of  their  property  rights  by  act  of  the  state.  It 
was  a  ruinous  policy  that  Philippus  proposed  when 
in  his  tribuneship  he  introduced  his  agrarian  bill. 
However,  when  his  law  was  rejected,  he  took  his 
defeat  with  good  grace  and  displayed  extraordinary 
moderation.  But  in  his  public  speeches  on  the 
measure  he  often  played  the  demagogue,  and  that 
time  viciously,  when  he  said  that  "there  were  not 
in  the  state  two  thousand  people  who  owned  any 
property."  That  speech  deserves  unqualified  con- 
demnation,  for  it  favoured  an  equal  distribution  of 
property;  and  what  more  ruinous  policy  than  that 
could  be  conceived  ?  For  the  chief  purpose  in  the 
estabUshment  of  constitutional  state  and  municipal 
governments  was  that  individual  property  rights 
might  be  secured.  For  although  it  was  by  Nature's 
guidance  that  men  were  drawn  together  into  com- 
munities,  it  was  in  the  hope  of  safeguarding  their 
possessions  that  they  sought  the  protection  of  cities. 

The  administration  should  also  put  forth  every  effort  (2)  taxation 
to  prevent  the  levying  of  a  property  tax,  and  to  this 
end  precautions  should  be  taken  long  in  advance. 
Such  a  tax  was  often  levied  in  the  times  of  our  fore- 
fathers  on  account  of  the  depleted  state  of  their 
treasury  and  their  incessant  wars.  But  if  any  state 
(l  say  "any,"  for  I  would  rather  speak  in  general 
terms  than  forebode  evils  to  our  own;  however,  I 
am  not  discussing  our  own  state  but  states  in  general) 
■ — if  any  state  ever  has  to  face  a  crisis  requiring  the 

249 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

nostra,  sed  de  omni  re  publica  disputoX  danda  erit 
opera,  ut  omnes  intellegant,  si  salvi  esse  velint, 
necessitati  esse  parendum.  Atque  etiam  omnes,  qui 
rem  publicam  gubernabunt,  consulere  debebunt,  ut 
earum  rerum  copia  sit,  quae  sunt^  necessariae. 
Quarum  qualis  comparatio  fieri  soleat  et  debeat,  non 
est  necesse  disputare ;  est  enim  in  promptu ;  tantum 
locus  attingendus  fuit. 

75  Caput  autem  est  in  omni  procuratione  negotii  et 
muneris  publici,  ut  avaritiae  pellatur  etiam  minima 
suspicio.  Utinam/'  inquit  C.  Pontius  Samnis,  ad 
illa  tempora  me  fortuna  reservavisset  et  tum  essem 
natus,  quando  Romani  dona  accipere^  coepissent! 
non  essem  passus  diutius  eos  imperare."  Ne  illi 
multa  saecula  exspectanda  fuerunt;  modo  enim  hoc 
malum  in  hanc  rem  publicam  invasit.  Itaque  facile 
patior  tum  potius  Pontium  fuisse,  siquidem  in  illo 
tantum  fuit  roboris.  Nondum  centum  et  decem 
anni  sunt,  cum  de  pecuniis  repetundis  a  L.  Pisone 
lata  lex  est,  nulla  antea  cum  fuisset.  At  vero  postea 
tot  leges  et  proximae  quaeque  duriores,  tot  rei,  tot 
damnati,  tantum  [italicumj^  bellum  propter  iudicio- 
rum  metum  excitatum,  tanta  sublatis  legibus  et 
iudiciis  expilatio  direptioque  sociorum,  ut  imbecilli- 
tate  aliorum,  non  nostra  virtute  valeamus. 

76  XXII.  Laudat  Africanum  Panaetius,  quod  fuerit 
abrtinens.     Quidni  laudet?     Sed  in  illo  aUa  maiora ; 

^  sunt  B  H  b,  Bt.^;  sunt  ad  victum  L  c  p,  Bt.',  Heine. 
^dona  accipere  B  H  L  a  p  c;  accipere  dona  b,  Ed. 
'^tantum\Italicum\  Bake,  Edd. ;  tatitum  Italicum  L  c  p; 
tantum  Iliacum  B  H;  tanti  militari  cum  b. 

"The  Ital!an  or  Social  War,  B.c.  100-88. 

b  During  the  didlatorships  of  Sulla  and  Caesar. 

250 


BOOK  II.  xxi-xxii 

imposition  of  such  a  burden,  every  effort  must  be 
made  to  let  all  the  people  realize  that  they  must 
bow  to  the  inevitable,  if  they  wish  to  be  saved.  And  (3)  necessiUes  of 

life 

it  will  also  be  the  duty  of  those  who  direct  the  affairs  ' 
of  the  state  to  take  measures  that  there  shall  be  an 
abundance  of  the  necessities  of  Hfe.  It  is  needless 
to  discuss  the  ordinary  ways  and  means;  for  the 
duty  is  self-evident ;  it  is  necessary  only  to  mention 
the  matter. 

But  the  chief  thing  in  all  public  administration  (4)  officiai 
and  public  service  is  to  avoid  even  the  slightest  "^*®^"'^" 
suspicion  of  self-seeking.  I  would,"  says  Gaius 
Pontius,  the  Samnite,  that  fortune  had  withheld 
my  appearance  until  a  time  when  the  Romans  began 
to  accept  bribes,  and  that  I  had  been  born  in  those 
days!  I  should  then  have  suffered  them  to  hold 
their  supremacy  no  longer."  Aye,  but  he  would 
have  had  many  generations  to  wait;  for  this  plague 
has  only  recently  infected  our  nation.  And  so  I 
rejoice  that  Pontius  lived  then  instead  of  now,  seeing 
that  he  was  so  mighty  a  man !  It  is  not  yet  a  hun- 
dred  and  ten  years  since  the  enactment  of  Lucius 
Piso's  bill  to  punish  extortion;  there  had  been  no 
such  law  before.  But  afterward  came  so  many  laws, 
each  more  stringent  than  the  other,  so  many  men 
were  accused  and  so  many  convicted,  so  horrible  a 
war*  was  stirred  up  on  account  of  the  fear  of  what 
our  courts  would  do  to  still  others,  so  frightful  was 
the  pillaging  and  plundering  of  the  allies  when  the 
laws  and  courts  were  suppressed,^  that  now  we 
find  ourselves  strong  not  in  our  own  strength  but  in 
the  weakness  of  others. 

XXII.   Panaetius  praises  Africanus  for  his  integrity 
in  Dublic  life.     Why  should  he  not  ?     But  Africanus 

251 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

laus  abstinentiae  ^  non  hominis  est  solum,  sed  etiam 
temporum  illorum.  Omni  Macedonum  gaza,  quae 
fuit  maxima,  potitus  [est]  ^  Paulus  tantum  in  aerarium 
pecuniae  invexit,  ut  unius  imperatoris  praeda  finem 
attulerit  tributorum.  At  hic  nihil  domum  suam 
intulit  praeter  memoriam  nominis  sempiternam. 
Imitatus  patrem  Africanus  nihilo  locupletior  Cartha- 
gine  eversa.  Quid  ?  qui  eius  collega  fuit  in  censura, 
L.  Mummius,  numquid  copiosior,  cum  copiosissimam 
urbem  funditus  sustulisset?  Italiam  ornare  quam 
domum  suam  maluit ;  quamquam  Italia  ornata  domus 
ipsa  mihi  videtur  ornatior. 

77  Nullum  igitur  vitium  taetrius  est,  ut  eo,  unde 
egressa  est,  referat  se  oratio,  quam  avaritia,  praeser- 
tim  in  principibus  et  rem  publicam  gubernantibus. 
Habere  enim  quaestui  rem  publicam  non  modo 
turpe  est,  sed  sceleratum  etiam  et  nefarium.    Itaque, 

Tnst.'  <1"°^  Apollo  Pythius  oraclum  edidit,  Spartam  nulla 

239^"'  ^^  *^'*  ^^^^  avaritia  esse  perituram,  id  videtur  non 

solum  Lacedaemoniis,  sed  etiam  omnibus  opulentis 
populis  praedixisse.  Nulla  autem  re  conciHare  faci- 
lius  benivolentiam  multitudinis  possunt  ii,  qui  rei 
pubhcae  praesunt,  quam  abstinentia  et  continentia. 

78  Qui  vero  se  populares  volunt  ob  eamque  causam 
aut  agrariam  rem  temptant,  ut  possessores  pellantur 
suis  sedibus,  aut  pecunias  creditas  debitoribus  con- 

'^ dbstinentiae  L  c  p,  Edd.;  sapientiae  B  II  a  b. 
^potitus  J    F.   Heusinger;  potitus  [est\  Edd. ;  potitus  est 
MSS. 
'^intulit  B  H  b,  Edd.;  detulit  L  c  p. 


^.Nearly  two  million  pounds  steriingf. 
252 


BOOK  II.  xxii 

had  other  and  greater  virtues.  The  boast  of  official 
integrity  belongs  not  to  that  man  alone  but  also  to 
his  times.  When  Paulus  got  possession  of  all  the 
wealth  of  Macedon — and  it  was  enormous — he  brought 
into  our  treasury  so  much  money  ^  that  the  spoils  of  a 
single  general  did  away  with  the  need  for  a  tax  on 
property  in  Rome  for  all  time  to  come.  But  to  his 
own  house  he  brought  nothing  save  the  glory  of  an 
immortal  name.  Africanus  emulated  his  father's 
example  and  was  none  the  richer  for  his  overthrow 
of  Carthage.  And  what  shall  we  say  of  Lucius 
Mummius,  his  colleague  in  the  censorship  ?  Was  he 
one  penny  the  richer  when  he  had  destroyed  to  its 
foundations  the  richest  of  cities?  He  preferred  to 
adorn  Italy  rather  than  his  own  house.  And  yet  by 
the  adornment  of  Italy  his  own  house  was,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  still  more  splendidly  adorned. 

There  is,  then,  to  bring  the  discussion  back  to  the  integrity 
point  from  which  it  digressed,  no  vice  more  offensive 
than  avarice,  especially  in  men  who  stand  foremost 
and  hold  the  helm  of  state.  For  to  exploit  the  state 
for  selfish  profit  is  not  only  immoral ;  it  is  criminal, 
infamous.  And  so  the  oracle,  which  the  Pythian 
Apollo  uttered,  that  Sparta  should  not  fall  from  any 
other  cause  than  avarice,"  seems  to  be  a  prophecy 
not  to  the  Lacedaemonians  alone,  but  to  all  wealtliy 
nations  as  well.  They  who  direct  the  aflfairs  of 
state,  then,  can  win  the  good-will  of  the  masses  by 
no  other  means  more  easily  than  by  self-restraint 
and  self-denial. 

But  they  who  pose  as  friends  of  the  people,  and  xhe  menace  of 
who  for  that  reason  either  attempt  to  have  agrarian  ^grarian  laws. 
laws  passed,  in  order  that  the  occupants  may  be 
driven  out  of  their  homes,  or  propose  that  money 

253 


vs. 
avarice. 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
donandas  putant,  labefactant  fundamenta  rei  pu- 
blicae,  concordiam  primum,  quae  esse  non  potest,  cum 
aliis  adimuntur^  aliis  condonantur  pecuniae,  deinde 
aequitatem,  quae  tollitur  omnis,  si  habere  suum 
cuique  non  licet.  Id  enim  est  proprium,  ut  supra 
§  73      dixi,  civitatis  atque  urbis,  ut  sit  libera  et  non  solli- 

79  cita  suae  rei  cuiusque  custodia.  Atque  in  hac  per- 
nicie  rei  publicae  ne  illam  quidem  consequuntur, 
quam  putant,  gratiam;  nam  cui  res  erepta  est,  est 
inimicus,  cui  data  est,  etiam  dissimulat  se  accipere 
voluisse  et  maxime  in  pecuniis  creditis  occultat  suuni 
gaudium,  ne  videatur  non  fuisse  solvendo;  at  vero 

lle,  qui  accepit^  iniuriam,  et  meminit  et  prae  se  fert 
dolorem  suum,  nec,  si  plures  sunt  ii,  quibus  inprobe 
datum  est,  quam  illi,  quibus  iniuste  ademptum  est, 
idcirco  plus  etiam  valent;  non  enim  numero  haec 
iudicantur,  sed  pondere.  Quam  autem  habet  aequi- 
tatem,  ut  agrum  multis  annis  aut  etiam  saeculis 
ante  possessum,  qui  nullum  habuit,  habeat,  qui 
autem  habuit,  amittat? 

80  XXIII.  Ac^  propter  hoc  iniuriae  genus  Lacedae- 
monii  Lysandrum  ephorum  expulerunt,  Agim  regem, 
quod  numquam  antea  apud  eos  acciderat,  necaverunt, 
exque  eo  tempore  tantae  discordiae  secutae  sunt,  ut 

'  accepit  L  c,  Edd. ;  accipit  B  H  a  b  p. 
McEdd.;  «/ MSS. 
S54 


BOOK  II.  xxii-xxirl 

loaned  should  be  remitted  to  the  borrowers,  are 
undermiuing  the  foundations  of  the  commonwealth : 
first  of  all,  they  are  destroying  harmony^  which 
cannot  exist  when  money  is  taken  away  from  one 
party  and  bestowed  upon  another ;  and  secondj  they 
do  away  with  equity,  which  is  utterly  subverted,  if 
the  rights  of  property  are  not  respected.  For,  as  I 
said  above,  it  is  the  peculiar  function  of  the  state 
and  the  city  to  guarantee  to  every  man  the  free  and 
undisturbed  control  of  his  own  particular  property. 
And  yet,  when  it  comes  to  measures  so  ruinous  to 
pubhc  welfare,  they  do  not  gain  even  that  popularity 
which  they  anticipate.  For  he  who  has  been  robbed 
of  his  property  is  their  enemy ;  he  to  whom  it  has 
been  turned  over  actually  pretends  that  he  had  no 
wish  to  take  it ;  and  most  of  all,  when  his  debts  are 
cancelled,  the  debtor  conceals  his  joy,  for  fear  that  he 
may  be  thought  to  have  been  insolvent ;  whereas  the 
victim  of  the  wrong  both  remembers  it  and  shows 
his  resentment  openly  Thus  even  though  they  to 
whom  property  has  been  wrongfully  awarded  be 
more  in  number  than  they  from  whom  it  has  been  un- 
justly  taken,  they  do  not  for  that  reason  have  more 
influence;  for  in  such  matters  influence  is  measured 
not  by  numbers  but  by  weight.  And  how  is  it  fair 
that  a  man  who  never  had  any  pi"operty  should  take 
possession  of  lands  that  had  been  occupied  for  many 
years  or  even  generations,  and  that  he  who  had 
them  before  should  lose  possession  of  them  ? 

XXIII.  Now,  it  was  on  account  of  just  this  sort  of  instances of 
wrong-doing  that  the  Spartans  banished  their  ephor  fellsiatron. 
Lysander^  and  put  their  king  Agis  to  death — an  act 
without  precedent  in  the  history  of  Sparta.     From 
that  time  od — and  for  the  same  reason — dissensions 

255 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

et  tyranni  exsisterent  et  optimates  exterminarentur 
et  praeclarissime  constituta  res  publica  dilaberetur; 
nec  vero  solum  ipsa  cecidit,  sed  etiam  reliquam 
Graeciam  evertit  contagionibus  malorum/  quae  a 
Lacedaemoniis  profectae  manarunt  latius.  Quid? 
nostros  Gracchos,  Ti.  Gracchi  summi  viri  filios,  Afri- 
cani  nepotes,  nonne  agrariae  coiitentiones  perdide- 
runt? 

81  At  vero  Aratus  Sicyonius  iure  laudatur,  qui,  cum 
eius  civitas  quinquaginta  annos  a  tyrannis  teneretur, 
profectus  Argis  Sicyonem  clandestino  introitu  urbe 
est  potitus,  cumque  tyrannum  Nicoclem  improviso 
oppressisset,'  sescentos  exsules,  qui  locupletissimi 
fuerant  eius  civitatis,  restituit  remque  publicam  ad- 
ventu  suo  liberavit.  Sed  cum  magnam  animadver- 
teret  in  bonis  et  possessionibus  difficultatem,  quod  et 
eos,  quos  ipse  restituerat,  quorum  bona  alii  possede- 
rant,  egere  iniquissimum  esse  arbitrabatur  et  quin- 
quaginta  annorum  possessiones  moveri^  non  nimis 
aequum  putabat,  propterea  quod  tam  longo  spatio 
multa  hereditatibus,  multa  emptionibus,  mulla 
dotibus  tenebantur  sine  iniuria,  iudicavit  neque 
illis    adimi    nec    iis    non    satis    fieri,    quorum    illa 

82  fuerant,  oportere.  Cum  igitur  statuisset  opus 
esse  ad  eam  rem  constituendam  pecunia,  Alexan- 
dream  se  proficisci  velle  dixit  remque  integram  ad 

^  malorum  L  c  p,  -Edd. ;  maiorum  B  H  a  b. 
*  oppressisset  L  c  p,  Edd.;  pressisset  B  H  a  b. 
*moveri  L  c  p,  Edd. ;  movere  B  H  a  b. 

256 


BOOK  II.  xxiii 

so  serious  ensued  that  tyrants  arose,  the  nobles  were 
sent  into  exile,  and  the  state,  though  most  admir- 
ably  constituted,  crumbled  to  pieces.  Nor  did  it 
fall  alone,  but  by  the  contagion  of  the  ills  that, 
starting  in  Lacedaemon,  spread  widely  and  more 
widely,  it  dragged  the  rest  of  Greece  down  to  ruin. 
What  shall  we  say  of  our  own  Gracchi^  the  sons  of 
that  famous  Tiberius  Gracchus  and  grandsons  of 
Africanus  ?  Was  it  not  strife  over  the  agrarian  issue 
that  caused  their  downfall  and  death? 

Aratus  of  Sicyon,  on  the  other  hand,  is  justly  Aratusoi 
praised.  When  his  city  had  been  kept  for  fifty  Sicyon. 
years  in  the  power  of  its  tyrants,  he  came  over 
from  Argos  to  Sicyon,  secretly  entered  the  city  and 
took  it  by  surprise ;  he  fell  suddenly  upon  the  tyrant 
Nicocles,  recalled  from  banishment  six  hundred 
exiles  who  had  been  the  wealthiest  men  of  the  city, 
and  by  his  coming  made  his  country  free.  But  he 
found  great  difficulty  in  the  matter  of  property  and 
its  occupancy ;  for  he  considered  it  most  unjust,  on 
the  one  hand,  that  those  men  should  be  left  in  want 
whom  he  had  restored  and  of  whose  property  others 
had  taken  possession ;  and  he  thought  it  hardly  fair, 
on  the  other  hand,  that  tenure  of  fifty  years'  stand- 
ing  should  be  disturbed.  For  in  the  course  of  that 
long  period  many  of  those  estates  had  passed  into 
innocent  hands  by  right  of  inheritance,  many  by 
purchase,  many  by  dower.  He  therefore  decided  that 
it  would  be  wrong  either  to  take  the  property  away 
from  the  present  incumbents  or  to  let  them  keep  it 
without  compensation  to  its  former  possessors.  So, 
when  he  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  he  must 
have  money  to  meet  the  situation,  he  announced 
that  he  meant  to  make  a  trip  to  Alexandria  and  gave 
s  257 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
reditum  suum  iussit  esse,  isque  eeleriter  ad  Ptolo- 
maeum,  suum  hospitem,  venit,  qui  tum  regnabat 
alter  post  Alexandream  conditam.  Cui^  cum  ex- 
posuisset  patriam  se  liberare  velle  causamque  do- 
cuisset,  a  rege  opulento  vir  summus  facile  impetravit, 
ut  grandi  pecunia  adiuvaretur.  Quam  cum  Sicyonem 
attulisset,  adhibuit  sibi  in  consiHum  quindecim  prin- 
cipes,  cum  quibus  causas  cognovit  et  eorum,  qui 
aliena  tenebant,  et  eorum,  qui  sua  amiserant,  per- 
fecitque  aestimandis  possessionibus,  ut  persuaderet 
aliis,  ut  pecuniam  accipere  mallent,  possessionibus 
cederent,  aUis,  ut  commodius  putarent  numerari  sibi, 
quod  tanti  esset,  quam  suum  recuperare.  Ita  per- 
fectum  est,  ut  omnes  concordia  constituta  sine  querella 
discederent. 
83  O  virum  magnum  dignumque,  qui  in  re  pubhca 
nostra  natus  esset!  Sic  par  est  agere  cum  civibus, 
non,  ut  bis  iam  vidimus,  hastam  in  foro  ponere  et 
bona  civium  voci  subicere^  praeconis.  At  ille  Graecus, 
id  quod  fuit  sapientis  et  praestantis  viri,  omnibus 
consulendum  putavit,  eaque  est  simima  ratio  et  sa- 
pientia  boni  civis,  commoda  civium  non  divellere 
atque  omnis  aequitate  eadem  continere.     Habitent 

*  cui  Edd.;  qui  MSS. 

"^subicere  L  c  p,  Edd.;  subiacere  B  H  a  b. 

258 


BOOK  II.  xxiii 

orders  that  matters  should  remain  as  they  were  until 
his  return.  And  so  he  went  in  haste  to  his  friend 
Ptolemy,  then  upon  the  throne,  the  second  king 
after  the  founding  of  Alexandria.  To  him  he  ex- 
plained  that  he  wished  to  restore  constitutional 
hberty  to  his  country  and  presented  his  case  to  him. 
And,  being  a  man  of  the  highest  standing,  he  easily 
secured  from  that  wealthy  king  assistance  in  the 
form  of  a  large  sum  of  money.  And  when  he  had 
returned  with  this  to  Sicyon,  he  called  into  counsel 
with  him  fifteen  of  the  foremost  men  of  the  city. 
With  them  he  investigated  the  cases  both  of  those 
who  were  holding  possession  of  other  people's  pro- 
perty  and  of  those  who  had  lost  theirs.  And  he 
managed  by  a  valuation  of  the  properties  to  persuade 
some  that  it  was  more  desirable  to  accept  money  and 
surrender  their  present  holdings;  others  he  con- 
vinced  that  it  was  more  to  their  interest  to  take  a 
fair  price  in  cash  for  their  lost  estates  than  to  try  to 
recover  possession  of  what  had  been  their  own.  As 
a  resultj  harmony  was  preserved^  and  all  oarties  went 
their  way  without  a  word  of  complaint. 

A  great  statesman^  and  worthy  to  have  been  justicethe 
born  in  our  commonwealth !  That  is  the  right  way  °t  T^'^"!!?^*  ° 
to  deal  with  one's  fellow-citizens,  and  not^  as  we  have 
already  witnessed  on  two  occasions,  to  plant  the 
spear  in  the  forum  and  knock  down  the  property  of 
citizens  under  the  auctioneer's  hammer.  But  yon 
Greek,  hke  a  wise  and  excellent  man,  thought  that 
he  must  look  out  for  the  welfare  of  all.  And  this 
is  the  highest  statesmanship  and  the  soundest  wisdom 
on  the  part  of  a  good  citizen,  not  to  divide  the  in- 
terests  of  the  citizens  but  to  unite  all  on  the  basis  of 
impartial  justice.  Let  them  Hve  in  their  neighbours 
s2  2.^9 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

gratis  in  alieno.  Quid  ita?  ut,  cum  ego  emerim, 
aedificarim,  tuear,  impendam,  tu  me  invito  fruare 
meo?  Quid  est  aliud  aliis  sua  eripere,  aliis  dare 
84  aliena?  Tabulae  vero  novae  quid  habent  argumenti, 
nisi  ut  emas  mea  pecunia  fundum,  eum  tu  habeas, 
ego  non  habeam  pecuniam? 

XXIV.  Quam  ob  rem  ne  sit  aes  alienum,  quod  rei 
publicae  noceat,  providendum  est,  quod  multis  ra- 
tionibus  caveri  potest,  non,  si  fuerit,  ut  locupletes 
suum  perdant,  debitores  lucrentur  alienum;  nec 
enim  ulla  res  vehementius  rem  pubHcam  continet 
quam  fides,  quae  esse  nulla  potest,  nisi  erit  neces- 
saria  solutio  rerum  creditarum.  Numquam  velie- 
mentius  actum  est  quam  rae  consule,  ne  solveretur ; 
armis  et  castris  temptata  res  est  ab  omni  genere 
hominum  et  ordine ;  quibus  ita  restiti,  ut  hoc  totum 
malum  de  re  pubhca  tolleretur.  Numquam  nec 
maius  aes  ahenum  fuit  nec  meUus  nec  facihus  disso- 
lutum  est;  fraudandi  enim  spe  sublata  solvendi 
necessitas  consecuta  est.  At  vero  hic  nunc  victor, 
tum  quidem  victus,  quae  cogitarat,  ea^  perfecit,  cum 
eius  iam  nihil  interesset.  Tanta  in  eo  peccandi 
libido  fuit,  ut  hoc  ipsum  eum  delectaret,  peccare, 
etiamsi  causa  non  esset. 

'  cogitarat,  ^a  B  H  a  b,  Bt.*,  Miiller;  cogitarat,  acni  ipsius 
intererat,  tum  ea  c  p,  Bt.',  Heine. 


aAn  assumed  appeal  to  one  of  Caesar's  edicts. 

b  Caesar,  it  seems,  had  had  some  part  in  the  schemes  of 
CatilineinB.C.  63and  possibly  in  the  plotofB.C.  66-65.  When 
his  conquests  in  Gaul  had  fieed  him  from  his  debts  and 
made  him  rich,  his  party,  with  his  consent,  passed(B.C.  49) 
the  obnoxious  legislation  here  referred  to — that  all  interest 
in  arrears  should  bc  remiltcd,  and  that  that  which  had  been 
paid  should  be  deducted  from  the  principal, 

260 


BOOK  II.  xxiii-xxiv 

house  rent-free."*  Why  so?  In  order  that^  when  I 
have  bought,  built,  kept  up^  and  spent  my  money 
upon  a  place,  you  may  without  niy  consent  enjoy 
what  belongs  to  me?  What  else  is  that  but  to  rob 
one  man  of  what  belongs  to  him  and  to  give  to 
84  another  what  does  not  belong  to  him?  And  what 
is  the  meaning  of  an  abolition  of  debts,  except  that 
you  buy  a  farm  with  my  money ;  thct  yon  have  the 
farm,  and  I  have  not  my  money  ? 

XXIV.  We  must,  therefore,  take  measures  that  Economics  o 
there  shall  be  no  indebtedness  of  a  nature  to  en- 
danger  the  pubHc  safety.  It  is  a  menace  that  can 
be  averted  in  many  ways ;  but  should  a  serious  debt 
be  incurred,  we  are  not  to  allow  the  rich  to  lose 
their  property,  while  the  debtors  profit  by  what  is 
their  neighbour's.  For  there  is  nothing  that  upholds 
a  government  more  powerfully  than  its  credit ;  and 
it  can  have  no  credit,  unless  the  payment  of  debts 
is  enforced  by  law.  Never  were  measures  for  the 
repudiation  of  debts  more  strenuously  agitated  than 
in  my  consulship.  Men  of  every  sort  and  rank 
attempted  with  arms  and  armies  to  force  the  project 
through.  But  I  opposed  them  with  such  energy 
tliat  this  plague  was  wholly  eradicated  from  the  body 
poUtic.  Indebtedness  was  never  greater ;  debts  were 
never  Hquidated  more  easily  or  more  fully ;  for  the 
hope  of  defrauding  the  creditor  was  cut  ofF  and  pay- 
ment  was  enforced  by  law.  But  the  present  victor, 
though  vanquished  then,  still  carried  out  his  old 
design,  when  it  was  no  longer  of  any  personal  ad- 
vantage  to  him.**  So  great  was  his  passion  for  wrong- 
doing  that  the  very  doing  of  wrong  was  a  joy  to  him 
for  its  own  sake,  even  when  there  was  no  motive 
for  it. 

261 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

85  Ab  hoc  igitur  genere  largitionis,  ut  aliis  detur,  aliis 
auferatur^  aberunt  ii,  qui  rem  publicam  tuebuntur,  in 
primisque  operam  dabunt,  ut  iuris  et  iudiciorum 
aequitate  suum  quisque  teneat  et  neque  tenuiores 
propter  humilitatem  circumveniantur  neque  locuple- 
tibus  ad  sua  vel  tenenda  vel  recuperanda  obsit 
invidia,  praeterea,  quibuscumque  rebus  vel  belU  vel 
domi  poterunt,  rem  publicam  augeant  imperio,  agris, 
vectigalibus. 

Haec  magnorum  hominum  sunt,  haec  apud  maiores 
nostros  factitata,  haec  genera  officiorum  qui  perse- 
quentur,^  cum  summa  utihtate  rei  pubhcae  magnam 
ipsi  adipiscentur  et  gratiam  et  gloriam. 

86  In  his  autem  utiHtatum  praeceptis  Antipater  Ty- 
rius  Stoicus,  qui  Athenis  nuper  est  mortuus,  duo 
praeterita  censet  esse  a  Panaetio,  valetudinis  cura- 
tionem  et  pecuniae;  quas  res  a  summo  philosopho 
praeteritas  arbitror,  quod  essent  faciles;  sunt  certe 
utiles.  Sed  valetudo  sustentatur  notitia  sui  corporis 
et  observatione,  quae  res  aut  prodesse  soleant  aut 
obesse,  et  continentia  in  victu  omni  atque  cultu  cor- 
poris  tuendi  causa  [praetermittendis  voluptatibus],^ 
postremo  arte  eorum,  quorum  ad  scientiam  haec 
pertinent. 

^ persequentur  c;  persequuntur  b,  Bt.''^;  persecuntur  B  H  p, 
B(:.\  Heine. 

^ praetermittendis  voluptatibus  MSS. ;  del.  Heine,  Edd. 

262 


BOOK  II.  xxiv 

Those,  then,  whose  office  it  is  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  the  state  will  refrain  from  that  form  of 
hberality  which  robs  one  man  to  enrich  another. 
Above  all,  they  will  use  their  best  endeavours  that  Administration 
every  one  shall  be  protected  in  the  possession  of  his  in  equity. 
own  property  by  the  fair  administration  of  the  law 
and  the  courts,  that  the  poorer  classes  shall  not  be 
oppressed  because  of  their  helplessness,  and  that 
envy  shall  not  stand  in  the  way  of  the  rich,  to  prevent 
them  from  keeping  or  recovering  possession  of  what 
justly  belongs  to  them ;  they  must  strive,  too,  by  what- 
ever  means  they  can,  in  peace  or  in  war,  to  advance 
the  state  in  power,  in  territory,  and  in  revenues. 

Such  service  calls  for  great  men ;  it  was  commonly 
rendered  in  the  days  of  our  ancestors ;  if  men  will 
perform  duties  such  as  these,  they  will  win  popu- 
larity  and  glory  for  themselves  and  at  the  same  time 
render  eminent  service  to  the  state. 

Now,  in  this  list  of  rules  touching  expediency,  Sanitation. 
Antipater  of  Tyre,  a  Stoic  philosopher  who  recently 
died  at  Athens,  claims  that  two  points  were  over- 
looked  by  Panaetius — the  care  of  health  and  of 
property.  I  presume  that  the  eminent  philosopher 
overlooked  these  two  items  because  they  present  no 
difficulty.  At  all  events  they  are  expedient.  Al- 
though  they  are  a  matter  of  course,  I  will  still  say  a 
few  words  on  the  subject.  Individual  health  is  pre- 
served  by  studying  one's  own  constitution,  by  observ- 
ing  what  is  good  or  bad  for  one,  by  constant  self- 
control  in  supplying  physical  wants  and  comforts 
(but  only  to  the  extent  necessary  to  self-preserva- 
tion),  by  foregoing  sensual  pleasures,  and  finally,  by 
the  professional  skill  of  those  to  whose  science  these 
matters  belong. 

263 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

87  Res  autem  familiaris  quaeri  debet  iis  rebus,  a 
quibus  abest  turpitudo,  conservari  autem  diligentia 
et  parsimoniaj  eisdem  etiam  rebus  augeri.  Has  res 
coramodissime  Xenophon  Socraticus  persecutus  est 
in  eo  libro,  qui  Oeconomicus  inscribitur,  quem  nos, 
ista  fere  aetate  cum  essemus,  qua  es  tu  nunc,  e 
Gi'aeco  in  Latinum  convertimus.  ^Sed  toto  hoc  de 
genere^  de  quaerenda,  de  collocanda  pecunia, 
(vellem^  etiam  de  utenda)  commodius  a  quibusdam 
optimis  viris  ad  lanum^  medium  sedentibus  quam 
ab  ullis  philosophis  ulla  in  schola  disputatur.  Sunt 
tamen  ea  cognoscenda ;  pertinent  eaim  ad  utilitatem, 
de  qua  hoc  libro  disputatum  est.^ 

88  XXV.  Sed  utiUtatum  comparatio,  quoniam  hic 
locus  erat  quartus,  a  Panaetio  praetermissus,  saepe 
est  necessaria.  Nam  et  corporis  commoda  cum  ex- 
ternis  [et  externa  cum  corporis]^  et  ipsa  inter  se 
corporis  et  externa  cum  externis  comparari  solent. 
Cum  externis  corporis  hoc  modo  compai-antur,  valere 
ut  malis  quam  dives  esse,  [cum  corporis  externa  hoc 
modo,  dives  esse  potius  quam  maximis  corporis  viri- 
bus,]^  ipsa  inter  se  corporis  sic,  ut  bona  valetudo 
voluptati  anteponatur,  vires  celeritati,  externorum 
autem,  ut  gloi"ia  divitiis,  vectigaHa  urhana  rusticis. 

89  Ex  quo  genere  comparationis  illud  est  Catonis  senis : 

^Sed .  .  .  disputatum  est  transposed  from  §  90  by  Unger, 
Edd.  ^vellem  c  p,  Bt.',  Ed.;  not  in  B  H  a  b,  Bt.« 

^  lanunt  c,  Edd.;  ianuae  B  H  a  b  p. 

*\et .  .  .  corporis\  bracketed  by  Unger,  Edd. 

'  \cuni  corporis .  .  .  corporis  viribus]  bracketed  by  Ungcr, 
Edd. 

?64 


BOOK  II.  xxiv-xxv 

As  for  property,  it  is  a  duty  to  make  money,  but  Finance. 
only  by  honourable  means;  it  is  a  duty  also  to  save 
it  and  increase  it  by  care  and  thrift.  These  prin- 
ciples  Xenophon,  a  pupil  of  Socrates,  has  set  forth 
most  happily  in  his  book  entitled  Oeconomicus." 
When  I  was  about  your  present  age,  I  translated  it 
from  the  Greek  into  Latin. 

But  this  whole  subject  of  acquiring  money,  invest- 
ing  money  (l  wish  I  could  include  also  spending 
money)  is  more  profitably  discussed  by  certain  worthy 
gentlemen  on  'Change"  than  could  be  done  by  any 
philosophers  of  any  school.  For  all  that,  we  must 
take  cognizance  of  them ;  for  they  come  fitly  under 
the  head  of  expediency,  and  that  is  the  subject  of 
the  present  book. 

XXV.  But  it  is  often  necessary  to  weigh  one  Comparison  of 
expediency  against  another ; — for  this,  as  I  stated,  is  a  «xp^diencies. 
fourth  point  overlooked  by  Panaetius.  For  not  only 
are  pliysical  advantages  regularly  compared  with  out- 
ward  advantages  [and  outward^  with  physical],  but 
physical  advantages  are  compared  with  one  another, 
and  outward  with  outward.  Physical  advantages 
are  compared  with  outward  advantages  in  some  such 
way  as  this :  one  may  ask  whether  it  is  more  desir- 
able  to  have  health  than  wealth;  [external  advan- 
tages  with  physical,  thus :  whether  it  is  better  to  have 
wealth  than  extraordinary  bodily  strength;]  while 
tlie  physical  advantages  may  be  weighed  against  one 
another,  so  that  good  health  is  preferred  to  sensual 
pleasure,  strength  to  agility.  Outward  advantages 
also  may  be  weighed  against  one  another :  glory,  for 
example,  may  be  preferred  to  riches,  an  income 
derived  IVom  city  property  to  one  derived  from  the 
farm.     To  this   class  of  comparisons  belongs  that 

265 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

a  qu6  cum  quaereretur,  quid  maxime  in  re  familiari 
expediretj  respondit:  Bene  pascere "  ;  quid  secun- 
dum:  Satis  bene  pascere  "  ;  quid  tertium :  ^  Male 
pascere";  quidquartum:  Arare";  et  cum  ille,  qui 
quaesierat,  dixisset:  Quid  faenerari?",  tum  Cato: 
"Quid  hominem,"  inquit,     occidere?" 

Ex  quo  et  multis  aliis  intellegi  debet  utilitatum 
comparationes  fieri  solere,  recteque  hoc  adiunctum 
esse  quartum  exquirendorum  officiorum  genus.^ 

Reliqua  deinceps  persequemur. 

^  guid  tertium  :  "  Male pasaere  "  c  p,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 
'■^ officiorum  genus.    Heie  foUows  in  MSS.  Sed  toto .  .  .  dis- 
putatum  est  transposed  to  §  87. 


^m 


BOOK  II.  XXV 

famous  saying  of  old  Cato's  :  when  he  was  asked 
what  was  the  most  profitable  feature  of  an  estate^  he 
replied  :  Raising  cattle  successfully."  What  next 
to  that?  Raising  cattle  with  fair  success."  And 
next?  Raising  cattle  with  but  slight  success." 
And  fourth?  Raising  crops."  And  when  his 
questioner  said,  How  about  money-lending  ? "  Cato 
replied:      How  about  murder?" 

From  this  as  well  as  from  many  other  incidents  we 
ought  to  realize  that  expediencies  have  often  to  be 
weighed  against  one  another  and  that  it  is  proper 
for  us  to  add  this  fourth  division  in  the  discussion  of 
moral  duty. 

Let  us  now  pass  on  to  the  remaining  problems. 


267 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
BOOK  III 

THE  CONFLICT  BETWEEN  THE 
RIGHT   AND   THE   EXPEDIENT 


LIBER  TERTIUS 

I.  P.  Scipionem,  M.^  fili,  eum,  qui  primus  Africa- 
nus  appellatus  est,  dicere  solitum  scripsit  Cato,  qui 
fuit  eius  fere  aequalis,  numquam  se  minus  otiosum 
essej  quam  cum  otiosus^  nec  minus  solum,  quam  cum 
solus  esset.  Magnifica  vero  vox  et  magno  viro  ac 
sapiente  digna ;  quae  declarat  illum  et  in  otio  de  ne- 
gotiis  cogitare  et  in  solitudine  secum  loqui  solitum, 
ut  neque  cessaret  umquam  et  interdum  colloquio 
alterius  non  egeret.  Ita  duae  res,  quae  languorem 
afFerxmt  ceteris,  illum  acuebant,  otium  et  solitudo. 
Vellem  nobis  hoc  idem  vere  dicere  liceret;  sed  si 
minus  imitatione  tantam  ingenii  praestantiam  con- 
sequi  possumus,  voluntate  certe  proxime  accedimus ; 
nam  et  a  re  publica  forensibusque  negotiis  armis 
impiis  vique  prohibiti  otium  persequimur  et  ob  eam 
causam  urbe  relicta  rura  peragrantes  saepe  soli 
sumus. 

Sed  nec  hoc  otium  cum  Africani  otio  nec  haec 
solitudo  cum  illa  comparanda  est.  Ille  enim  requi- 
escens  a  rei  publicae  pulcherrimis  muneribus  otium 
sibi  sumebat  ahquando  et  e^  coetu  hominum  fre- 
quentiaque  interdum  tamquam  in  portum  se  in  soli- 


'  J/.  Nonius  ;  Marce  MSS. 
*e  c,  Edd. ;  a  a  ;  not  in  B  H  b. 
270 


BOOK  III 

I.  CatOj  who  was  of  about  the  same  years,  Marcus,  Preface:  Scipio 
my  son,  as  that  Publius  Scipio  who  first  bore  the  *°'^^'"'°- 
surname  of  Africanus,  has  given  us  the  state- 
ment  that  Scipio  used  to  say  that  he  was  never  less 
idle  than  when  he  had  nothing  to  do  and  never  less 
lonely  than  when  he  was  alone.  An  admirable 
sentiment,  in  truth,  and  becoming  to  a  great  and 
wise  man.  It  shows  that  even  in  his  leisure  hours 
^is  thoughts  were  occupied  with  public  business  and 
that  he  used  to  commune  with  himself  when  alone ; 
and  so  not  only  was  he  never  unoccupied,  but  he 
sometimes  had  no  need  for  company.  The  two 
conditionsj  then,  that  prompt  others  to  Idleness — 
leisure  and  sohtude — only  spijrred  him  on.  I  wish 
I  could  say  the  same  of  myself  and  say  it  truly.  But 
if  by  imitation  I  cannot  attain  to  such  excellence  of 
character,  in  aspiration,  at  all  events,  I  approach  it  as 
nearly  as  I  can ;  for  as  I  am  kept  by  force  of  armed 
treason  away  from  practical  pohtics  and  from  my 
practice  at  the  bar,  I  am  now  leading  a  life  of  leisure. 
For  that  reason  I  have  left  the  city  and,  wandering  in 
the  country  from  place  to  place,  I  am  often  alone. 

But  I  should  not  compare  this  leisure  of  mine 
with  that  of  Africanus,  nor  this  soHtude  with  his. 
For  he,  to  find  leisure  from  his  splendid  services 
to  his  country,  used  to  take  a  vacation  now  and  then 
and  to  retreat  from  the  assembhes  and  the  throngs 
of  men  into  solitude,  as  into  a  haven  of  rest.     But 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

tudinem  recipiebat^  nostrum  autem  otium  negotii 
inopia,  non  requiescendi  studio  constitutum  est. 
Exstincto  enim  senatu  deletisque  iudiciis  quid  est 
quod  dignum  nobis  aut  in  curia  aut  in  foro  agere 

3  possimus?  Ita,  qui  in  maxima  celebritate  atque  in 
oculis  civium  quondam  vixerimus,  nunc  fugientes 
conspectum  sceleratorum,  quibus  omnia  redundant, 
abdimus  nos,  quantum  licet,  et  saepe  soli  sumus.  Sed 
quia  sic  ab  hominibus  doctis  accepimus,  non  solum 
ex  malis  eligere  minima  oportere,  sed  etiam  excer- 
pere  ex  his  ipsis,^  si  quid  inesset  boni,  propterea  et 
otio  fruor,  non  illo  quidem,  quo  debebat  is,^  qui 
quondam  peperisset  otium  civitati,  nec  eam  solitu- 
dinem  languere  patior,  quam  mihi  affert  necessitas, 
non  voluntas. 

4  Quamquam  Africanus  maiorem  laudem  meo  iudicio 
assequebatur.  Nulla  enim  eius  ingenii  monumenta 
mandata  litteris,  nullum  opus  otii,  nullum  sohtudinis 
munus  exstat;  ex  quo  intellegi  debet  illum  mentis 
agitatione  investigationeque  earum  rerum,  quas 
cogitando  consequebatur,  nec  otiosum  nec  solum 
umquam  fuisse ;  nos  autem,  qui  non  tantum  roboris 
habemus,  ut  cogitatione  tacita  a*  solitudine  abstra- 
hamur,  ad  hanc  scribendi  operam  omne  studium 
curamque  convertimus.  Itaque  plura  brevi  tempore 
eversa  quam  multis  annis  stante  re  publica  scripsi- 
mus. 


^ex  his  tpsis  c,  Edd. ;  ex  his  a  ;  ex  ipsis  B  H  b. 
^debehat  is  c,  Edd.;  dcbeat   B  H  b;    debcat  is  corr.    'v\ 
debeat  a. 
'a  c,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 

272 


BOOK  III. 

my  leisure  is  foreed  upon  me  by  want  of  public  Theorator*t 

1       .  .  .    j    1  1      •         /•  retirement. 

busmess,  not  prompted  by  any  desire  for  repose. 
For  now  that  the  senate  has  been  abolished  and  the 
courts  have  been  closed,  what  is  there,  in  keeping  with 
my  self-respect,  that  I  can  do  either  in  the  senate- 
chamber  or  in  the  forum?  So,  although  I  once 
lived  amid  throngs  of  people  and  in  the  greatest 
publicity,  I  am  now  shunning  the  sight  of  the  mis- 
creants  with  whom  the  world  abounds  and  with- 
drawing  from  the  public  eye  as  far  as  I  may,  and  I 
am  often  alone,  But  I  have  learned  from  philoso- 
phers  that  among  evils  one  ought  not  only  to  choose 
the  least,  but  also  to  extract  even  from  these  any 
element  of  good  that  they  may  contain.  For  that 
reason,  I  am  turning  my  leisure  to  account — thougli 
it  is  not  such  repose  as  the  man  should  be  entitled 
to  who  once  brought  the  state  repose  from  civil 
strife — and  I  am  not  letting  this  solitude,  which 
necessity  and  not  my  will  imposes  on  me,  find  me  idle. 
And  yet,  in  my  judgment,  Africanus  earned  the 
higher  praise.  For  no  literary  monuments  of  his 
genius  have  been  published,  we  have  no  work  pro- 
duced  in  his  leisure  hours,  no  product  of  his  solitude. 
From  this  fact  we  may  safely  infer  that,  because  ot 
the  activity  of  his  mind  and  the  study  of  those  prob- 
lems  to  which  he  used  to  direct  his  thought,  he 
was  never  unoccupied,  never  lonely.  But  I  have 
not  strength  of  mind  enough  by  means  of  silent 
meditation  to  forget  my  solitude;  and  so  I  have 
turned  all  my  attention  and  endeavour  to  this  kind 
of  literary  work.  I  have,  accordingly,  written  more 
in  this  short  time  since  the  downfall  of  the  republic 
than  I  did  in  the  course  of  many  years,  while  the 
republic  stood. 

T  278 


CiCERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

5  II.  Sed  cum  tota  philosophia,  mi  Cicero,  frugifera 
et  fructuosa  nec  ulla  pars  eius  inculta  ac  deserta  sit, 
tum  nullus  feracior  in  ea  locus  est  nec  uberior  ^  quam 
de  officiis,  a  quibus  constanter  honesteque  vivendi 
praecepta  ducuntur.  Quare,  quamquam  a  Cratippo 
nostrOj  principe  huius  memoriae  philosoph(  am,  haec 
te  assidue  audire  atque  accipere  confido,  tamen  con- 
ducere  arbitror  talibus  aures  tuas  vocibus  undique 
circumsonare,  nec  eas,  si  fieri  possit,  quicquam  ahud 

6  audire.  Quod  cum  omnibus  est  faciendum,  qui 
vitam  honestam  ingredi  cogitant,  tum  haud  scio  an 
nemini  potius  quam  tibi;  sustines  enim  non  parvam 
exspectationem  imitandae  industriae  nostrae,  magnam 
honorum,  non  nullam  fortasse  nominis.  Suscepisti 
onus  praeterea  grave  et  Athenarum  et  Cratippi ;  ad 
quos  cum  tamquam  ad  mercaturam  bonarum  artium 
sis  profectus,  inanem  redire  turpissimum  est  dede- 
corantem  et  urbis  auctoritatem  et  magistri.  Quare, 
quantum  coniti  animo  potes,  quantum  labore  con- 
tendere,  si  discendi  labor  est  potius  quam  voluptas, 
tantum  fac  ut  efficias  neve  committas,  ut,  cum' 
omnia  suppeditata  sint  a  nobis,  tute  tibi  defuisse 
videare. 

Sed   haec    hactenus;    multa   enim    saepe   ad    te 


«74 


*uberior  c,  Edd.;  uerior  B  H  a  b. 
'ut,  cum  c,  Edd.;  ut  ne,  cum  B  II  a  b. 


BOOK  III.  ii 
II.  But,  my  dear  Cicero,  while  tlie  whole  field  of  YoungCicero 

1  .,  1        •     /•     fi  1  1       ,.  1  ..         admonished  to 

pnilosophy  is  lertile  and  productive  and  no  portiou  diligence  in  bis 

of  it  bai-ren  and  waste,  still  no  part  is  richer  or  more  ®'"'^'^*- 

fruitful  than  that  which  deals  with  nioral  duties ;  for 

from  these  are  derived  the  rules  for  leading  a  con- 

sistent  and   moral   hfe.     And   therefore,  although 

you  are,  as  I  trust,  dihgently  studying  and  profiting 

by  these  precepts  under  the  direction  of  our  friend 

Cratippus,  the  foremost  philosopher  of  the  present 

age,  I  still  think  it  well  that  your  ears  should  be 

dinned  with  such  precepts  from  every  side  and  that, 

if    it    could    be,    they    should    hear   nothing    else. 

These  precepts  must  be  laid  to  heart  by  all  who 

look    forward    to    a    career   of  honour,  and    I    am 

inchned  to  think  that  no  one  needs  them  more  than 

you.     For  you  will  have  to  fulfil  the  eager  anticipa- 

tion  that  you  will  imitate  my  industry,  the  confident 

expectation  that  you  will  emulate  my  course  of  pohtical 

honours,  and  the  hope  that  you  will,  perhaps,  rival  my 

name  and  fame.   You  have,  besides,  incurred  a  heavy 

responsibihty  on  account  of  Athens  and  Cratippus : 

for  since  you  have  gone  to  them  for  the  purchase, 

as  it  were,  of  a  store  of  Hberal  culture,  it  would  be 

a  great  discredit  to  you  to  return  empty-handed, 

tliereby  disgracing  the  high  reputation  of  the  city 

and  of  your  master.     Therefore,  put  forth  the  best 

mental  effort  of  which  you  are  capable;  work  as 

hard  as   you  can  (if  learning  is  work  rather  than 

pleasure);  do  your  very  best  to  succeed;  and  do  not, 

when  I  have  put  all  the  necessary  means  at  your 

disposal,  allow  it  to  be  said  that  you  have  failed  to 

do  your  part. 

But  enough  of  this.     For  I  have  written  again 
and  again  for  your  encouragement.     Let   us  now 
to  275 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
cohortandi    gratia   scripsimus;    nunc   ad    reliquam 
partem  propositae  divisionis  revertamur. 

7  Panaetius  igitur,  qui  sine  controversia  de  officiis 
accuratissime  disputavit,  quemque  nos  correctione 
quadam  adhibita  potissimum  secuti  sumus,  tribus 
generibus  propositis,  in  quibus  deUberare  homines  et 
consultare  de  officio  solerent,  uno,  cum  dubitarent, 
honestumne  id  esset,  de  quo  ageretur,  an  turpe, 
altero,  utilene  esset  an  inutile,  tertio,  si  id,  quod 
speciem  haberet  honesti,  pugnaret  cum  eo,  quod 
utile  videretur,  quo  modo  ea  discerni  oporteret,  de 
duobus  generibus  primis  tribus  hbris  exphcavit,  de 
tertio  autem  genere  deinceps  se  scripsit  dicturum  nec 

8  exsolvit  id,  quod  promiserat.  Quod  eo  magis  miror, 
quia  scriptum  a  discipulo  eius  Posidonio  est  triginta 
annis  vixisse  Panaetium,  posteaquam  illos  hbros 
edidisset.  Quem  locum  miror  a  Posidonio  breviter 
esse  tactum  in  quibusdam  commentariis,  praesertim 
cum  scribat  nullum  esse  locum  in  tota  philosophia 
tam  necessarium. 

9  Minime  vero  assentior  iis,  qui  negant  eum  locum 
a  Panaetio  praetermissum,  sed  consulto  rehctum,  nec 
omnino  scribendum  fuisse,  quia  numquam  posset 
utihtas  cum  honestate  pugnare.  De  quo  alterum 
potest  habere  dubitationem,  adhibendumne  fuerit 
hoc  genus,  quod  in  divisione  Panaeti  tertium  est,  an 
plane  omittendum,  alterum  dubitari  non  potest,  quin 

276 


feOOK  tit  ii 

return  to  the  remaiiiing  section  of  our  subjeet  as 
outlined. 

Panaetius,  then,  has  given  us  what  is  unquestion-  Panaetiuson 
ably  the  most  thorough  discussion  of  moral  duties  MoralDuties. 
that  we  have,  and  I  have  followed  him  in  the  main 
— but  with  shght  modifications.  He  classifies  under  ■ 
three  general  heads  the  ethical  problems  which 
people  are  accustomed  to  consider  and  weigh  :  first, 
the  question  whether  the  matter  in  hand  is  morally 
right  or  morally  wrong ;  second,  whether  it  is  ex- 
pedient  or  inexpedient ;  third,  how  a  decision  ought 
to  be  reached,  in  case  tliat  which  has  the  appearance 
of  being  morally  right  clashes  with  that  which  seems 
to  be  expedient.  He  has  treated  the  first  two  heads 
at  length  in  three  books ;  but  while  he  has  stated 
that  he  meant  to  discuss  the  third  head  in  its  proper 
turn,  he  has  never  fulfilled  his  promise.  And  I 
wonder  the  more  at  this,  because  Posidonius,  a  pupil 
of  his,  records  that  Panaetius  was  still  aUve  thirty 
years  after  he  pubhshed  those  three  books.  And  I 
am  surprised  that  Posidonius  has  but  briefly  touched 
upon  this  subject  in  certain  memoirs  of  his,  and 
especially,  as  he  states  that  there  is  no  otlier  topic  in 
the  whole  range  of  philosophy  so  essentially  impor- 
tant  as  this. 

Now,  I  cannot  possibly  accept  the  view  of  those  Why  Panaetius 
who  say  that  that  point  was  not  overlooked  but  pur-  °'confl'|cr^  of 
posely  omitted  by  Panaetius,  and  that  it  was  not  one  ^^^  moral  and 

,1     ,  j    j  j.  •  1  ii  theexpedient. 

that  ever  needed  discussion,  because  there  never  can 
be  such  a  thing  as  a  conflict  between  expediency  and 
moral  rectitude.  But  with  regard  to  this  assertion, 
the  one  point  may  admit  of  doubt — whether  that 
question  which  is  third  in  Panaetius's  classification 
ought  to  have  been  included  or  omitted  altogether; 

277 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
a  Panaetio  susceptum  sit,  sed  relictum.     Nam  qui  e 
divisione    tripertita    duas    partes    absolverit,    huic 
nccesse  est  restare  tertiam;  praeterea  in  extremo 
libro  tertio  de  hac  parte  polHcetur  se  deinceps  esse 

1 0  dicturum.  Accedit  eodem  testis  locuples  Posidonius, 
qui  etiam  scribit  in  quadam  epistula  P.  RutiHum 
Rufum  dicere  solere,  qui  Panaetium  audierat,  ut 
nemo  pictor  esset  inventus,  qui  in  Coa  Venere  eam 
partem,  quam  Apelles  inchoatam  reliquisset,  absol- 
veret  (oris  enim  pulchritudo  reliqui  corporis  imitandi 
spem  auferebat),  sic  ea,  quae  Panaetius  praetermi- 
sisset  [et  non  perfecisset]  *  propter  eorum,  quae  per- 
fecisset,  praestantiam  neminem  persecutum. 

11  III.  Quam  ob  rem  de  iudicio  Panaeti  dubitari  non 
potest;  rectene  autem  hanc  tertiam  partem  ad  ex- 
quirendum  officium  adiunxerit  an  secus,  de  eo  for- 
tasse  disputari  potest.  Nam,  sive  honestum  solum 
bonum  est,  ut  Stoicis  placet,  sive,  quod  honestum 
est,  id  ita  summum  bonum  est,  quem  ad  modum 
Peripateticis  vestris  videtur,  ut  omnia  ex  altera  parte 
collocata  vix  minimi  momenti  instar  habeant,  dubi- 
tandum  non  est,  quin  numquam  possit  utilitas  cum 
honestate  contendere.  Itaque  accepimus  Socratem 
exsecrari  solitum  eos,  qui  primum  haec  natura  cohae- 
rentia  opinione  distraxissent.  Cui  quidem  ita  sunt 
Stoici  assensi,  ut  et,  quicquid  lionestum  esset,  id 

^etnonperfecisset  MSS.;  del.  Muretus;  bracketedby  Edd. 
278 


BOOK  III.  ii-iii 

but  the  other  point  is  not  open  to  debate — that  it 
was  included  in  Panaetius's  plan  but  left  unwritten. 
For  if  a  writer  Jias  finished  two  divisions  of  a  three- 
fold  subject,  the  third  must  necessarily  remain  for 
him  to  do.  Besides,  he  promises  at  the  close  of  the 
third  book  that  he  will  discuss  this  division  also  in  its 
proper  turn.  We  have  also  in  Posidoniiis  a  com- 
petent  witness  to  the  fact.  He  writes  in  oiie  of  his 
ietters  that  Publius  Rutihus  Rufus,  who  also  was  a 
pupil  of  Panaetius's,  used  to  say  that  as  no  painter 
had  been  found  to  complete  that  part  of  the  Venus  ot 
Cos  which  Apelles  had  left  unfinished  (for  the  beauty 
of  her  face  made  hopeless  any  attempt  adequately  to 
represent  the  rest  of  the  figure),  so  no  one,  because 
of  the  surpassing  excellence  of  what  Panaetius  did 
complete,  would  venture  to  supply  what  he  had  left 
nndone." 

III.  In   regard    to    Panaetius's    real    intentions,  rheconflict 
therefore,    no    doubt    can    be    entertained.       But  dfemfy  an/^*" 
whether  he  was  or  was  not  iustified  in  adding  this  Morai  Rectitude 

"  ,  only  apparent. 

third  division  to  the  inquiry  about  duty  may,  per- 
haps,  be  a  matter  for  debate.  For  whether  moraiL 
goodness  is  the  only  good,  as  the  Stoics  believe,  or 
whether,  as  your  Peripatetics  think,  moral  goodness 
is  in  so  far  the  highest  good  that  everything  else 
gathered  together  into  the  opposing  scale  would 
have  scarcely  the  slightest  weight,  it  is  beyond 
question  that  expediency  can  never  conflict  with 
moral  rectitude.  And  so,  we  have  heard,  Socrates 
used  to  pronounce  a  curse  upon  those  who  first  drew 
a  conceptual  distinction  between  things  naturally 
inseparable.  With  this  doctrine  the  Stoics  are  in 
agreement  in  so  far  as  they  maintain  that  if  anything 

279 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

uthe  esse  censerent  nec  utile  quicquam,  quod  .lon 
honestum. 

12  Quodsi  is  esset  Panaetius,  qui  virtutem  propterea 
colendam  diceret,  quod  ea  efficiens  utilitatis  esset, 
ut  ii,  qui  res  expetendas  vel  voluptate  vel  indolentia 
metiuntur,  liceret  ei  dicere  utilitatem  aliquando 
cum  honestate  pugnare ;  sed  cum  sit  is^  qui  id  solum 
bonom  iudicet,  quod  honestum  sit,  quae  autem  huic 
repugnent  specie  quadam  utilitatis,  eorum  neque 
accessione  meliorem  vitam  fieri  nec  decessione 
peiorem,  non  videtur  debuisse  eius  modi  delibera- 
tionem  introducere,  in  qua,  quod   utile  videretur, 

13  cum  eo,  quod  honestum  est,  compararetur.  Etenim 
quod  summum  bonum  a  Stoicis  dicitur,  convenienter 
naturae  vivere,  id  habet  hanc,  ut  opinor,  sententiam : 
cum  virtute  congruere  semper,  cetera  autem,  quae 
secundum  naturam  essent,  ita  legere,  si  ea  virtuti 
non  repugnarent.  Quod  cum  ita  sit,  putant  quidam 
hanc  comparationem  non  recte  introductam,  nec 
omnino  de  eo  genere  quicquam  praecipiendum  fuisse. 

Atque^  illud  quidem  honestum,  quod  proprie 
vereque  dicitur,  id  in  sapientibus  est  solis  neque  a 
virtute  divelli  umquam  potest;  in  iis  autem,  in  qui- 
bus  sapientia  perfecta  non  est,  ipsum  illud  qui- 
dem    perfectum    honestum    nuUp   modo,  similitu- 

14  dines  honesti  esse  possunt.  Haec  enim  officia,  de 
quibus  his  Hbris  disputamus,  media  Stoici  appellant; 
ea  communia  sunt  et  late  patent;  quae  et  ingenii 

^Atque   MSS.,    Bt.',    Miiller,    Heine  ;   atqui  Fleckeisen, 
Bt.»,  Ed. 

•  See  note  on  I,  8. 
880 


BOOK  III.  iii 

is  morally  right,  it  is  expedient,  and  if  anything  is 
not  morally  right,  it  is  not  expedient. 

But  if  Panaetius  were  the  sort  of  man  to  say  that 
virtue  is  worth  cultivating  only  because  it  is  produc- 
tive  of  advantage,  as  do  certain  philosophers  who 
measure  the  desirableness  of  things  by  the  standard 
of  pleasure  or  of  absence  of  pain,  he  might  argue  that 
expediency  sometimes  clashes  with  moral  rectitude. 
But  since  he  is  a  man  who  judges  that  the  morally 
right  is  the  only  good,  and  that  tliose  things  which 
come  in  conflict  with  it  have  only  the  appearance  of 
expediency  and  cannot  make  life  any  better  by  their 
presence  nor  any  worse  by  their  absence,  it  follows 
that  he  ought  not  to  have  raised  a  question  involv- 
ing  the  weighing  of  what  seems  expedient  against 
what  is  morally  right.  Furthermore,  when  the 
Stoics  speak  of  the  supreme  good  as  "-living  coniorm- 
ably  to  nature,"  they  mean,  as  I  take  it,  something 
like  this :  that  we  are  always  to  be  in  accord  with 
virtue,  and  from  all  other  things  that  may  be  in 
harmony  with  nature  to  choose  only  such  as  are  not 
incompatible  with  virtue.  This  being  so,  some 
people  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  was  not  riglit  to 
introduce  this  counterbalancing  of  right  and  expedi- 
ency  and  that  no  practical  instruction  should  have 
been  given  on  this  question  at  all. 

And  yet  moral  goodness,  in  the  true  and  proper 
sense  of  the  term,  is  the  exclusive  possession  of  the 
wise  and  can  never  be  separated  from  virtue;  but 
those  who  have  not  perfect  wisdom  cannot  possibly 
have  perfect  moral  goodness,  but  only  a  semblance 
of  it.  And  indeed  these  duties  under  discussion  in 
these  books  the  Stoics  call  mean  duties  "  ^;  they  are  a  xhe  "absoiute 
common  possession  and  have  wide  application ;  and  ^*"^  ^^  "mean 

S81 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

honitate  multi  assequuntur  et  progressione  discendi. 
Illud  autem  officium,  quod  rectum  idem  appellant, 
perfectum  atque  absolutum  est  et,  ut  idem  dicunt, 
omnes  numeros  habet  nec  praeter  sapientem  cadere 

15  in  quemquam  potest.  Cum  autem  aliquid  actum 
est,  in  quo  media  officia  compareant,^  id  cumulate 
videtur  esse  perfectum,  propterea  quod  volgus,  quid 
ahsit  a  perfecto,  non  fere  intellegit;  quatenus  autem 
intellegit,  nihil  putat  praetermissum ;  quod  idem^in 
poematis,  in  picturis  usu  venit  in  ahisque  compluri-  ,. 
bus,  ut  delectentur  imperiti  laudentque  ea,  quae  lau-  J^ 
danda  non  sint,  ob  eam,  credo,  causam,  quod  insit  in 
iis^  aUquid  probi,  quod  capiat  ignaros,  qui  quidem,* 
quid  in  una  quaque  re  vitii  sit,  nequeant  iudicare ;  ita- 
que,  cum  sunt  docti  a  peritis,  desistunt  facile  sententia. 

IV.  Haec  igitur  officia,  de  quihus  his  Hbris  disseri- 
mus,  quasi  secunda  quaedam  lionesta  esse  dicunt, 
non  sapientium  modo  propria,  sed  cum  omni  homi- 

16  num  genere  communia.  Itaque  iis  omnes,  in  quibus 
est  virtutis  indoles,  commoventur.  Nec  vero,  cum 
duo  Decii  aut  duo  Scipiones  fortes  viri  commemo- 
rantur,  aut  cum  Fabricius  [aut  Aristides]^  iustus 
nominatur,  aut  ab  ilHs  fortitudinis  aut  ab  hoc*'  iustitiae 
tamquam  a  sapiente  petitur  exemplum ;  nemo  enim 

^  compareant  Anemoecius,  Edd.;  comparant  B  H  a  b; 
appareant  c  ;  comparent  p. 

^idem  Nonius,  Muller,  Heine  \autcm  B  H  a  b  ;  item  c,  Bt. 

3  iis  Baiter,  Miiller,  Hetne  ;  his  B  H  a  b  ;  hijs  c. 

* qui quidem  many  MSS.,  B\^,Mu\\Gr;quiidem  B  H  abc  ; 
qui[idem]Bi.^,\le\ne.  ^  aut  Aristides  (Aristidesve     p) 

MSS.,  Lactantius;  bracketed  by  J.  M.  Heuainger,  Edd. 

^hoc  Lactantius,  Edd.,  his  MSS^^ 

aLe.,fills  all  the  requirements  of  absoluteperfection— an 
allusion  to  the  Pylhagorean  doctrine  that  specific  numbers 
stand  for  perfection  of  specific  kinds;  "  absolute  duty" 
«^■Tibines  them  all. 
■282 


BOOK  III.  iii-iv 

many  people  attain  to  the  knowledge  of them  through 
natural  goodness  of  heart  and  through  advancement 
in  Learning.  But  that  duty  which  those  same  Stoics  call 
right"  is  perfect  and  absolute  and  satisfies  all  the 
numbers,"  ^  as  that  same  school  says,  and  is  attainable 

1 5  by  none  except  the  wise  man.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  some  act  is  performed  in  which  we  see  mean" 
duties  manifested,  that  is  generally  regarded  as 
fully  perfect,  for  the  reason  that  the  common  crowd 
does  not,  as  a  rule,  comprehend  how  far  it  falls  shortof 
real  perfection;  but  as  far  as  their  comprehension 
does  go,  they  think  there  is  no  deficiency.  This  same 
thing  ordinarily  occurs  in  the  estimation  of  poems, 
paintings,  and  a  great  many  other  works  of  art: 
ordinary  people  enjoy  and  praise  things  that  do  not 
deserve  praise.  The  reason  for  this,  I  suppose,  is 
that  those  productions  have  some  point  of  excellence 
which  catches  the  fancy  of  the  uneducated,  because 
these  have  not  the  ability  to  discover  the  points  of 
weakness  in  any  particular  piece  of  work  before 
them.  And  so,  when  they  are  instructed  by  experts, 
they  readily  abandon  their  former  opinion. 

IV.  The  performance  of  the  duties,  then,  which  I  Absoiute  good- 
am  discussing  in  these  books,  is  called  by  the  Stoics  "e^^^huma^hyr 
a  sort  of  second-grade  moralgoodness,notthe  peculiar 
property  of  theirwise  men,butshared  bythem  withall 

1 6  mankind.  Accordingly,  such  duties  appeal  to  all  men 
who  have  a  natural  disposition  to  virtue.  And  when 
the  two  Decii  or  the  two  Scipios  are  mentioned  as 

brave  men"  or  Fabricius  [or  Aristides]  is  called  "the 
just,"  it  is  not  at  all  that  the  former  are  quoted  as 
perfect  models  of  courage  or  the  latter  as  a  perfect 
model  of  justice,  as  if  we  had  in  one  of  them  the 
ideal     wise  man."    For  no  one  of  them  was  wise  in 

283 


CICERO  DE  OFFICllS 
horum  sic  sapiens,ut  sapientem  volumus  intellegi,  nec 
ii,  qui  sapientes  habiti  et  nominati,  M.  Cato  et  C. 
Laelius,  sapientes  fuerunt,  ne  illi  quidem  septem, 
sed  ex  mediorum  officiorum  frequentia  simiUtudinem 
quandam  gerebant  speciemque  sapientium. 

17  Quocirca  nec  id,  quod  vere  honestum  est,  fas  est 
cum  utiUtatis  repugnantia  comparari,  nec  id,  quod 
communiter  appellamus  honestum,  quod  colitur  ab 
iis,  qui  bonos  se  viros  haberi  volunt,  cum  emolumen- 
tis  umquam  est  comparandum,  tamque  id  honestum, 
quod  in  nostram  intellegentiam  cadit,  tuendum 
conservanduinque  nobis  est  quam  illud,  quod  proprie 
dicitur  vereque  est  honestum,  sapientibus;  aUter 
enim  teneri  non  potest,  si  qua  ad  virtutem  est  facta 
progressio. 

Sed  haec  quidem  de  iis,  qui  conservatione  officio- 
rum  existimantur  boni. 

18  Qui  autem  omnia  metiuntur  emolumentis  et  com- 

modis  neque  ea  volunt  praeponderari  honestate,  ii 

solent  in  deUberando  honestum  cum  eo,  quod  utile 

putant,  comparare,    boni   viri    non   solent.     Itaque 

existimo  Panaetium,  cum  dixerit  homines  solere  in 

hac  comparatione  dubitare,  lioc  ipsum  sensisse,  quod 

dixerit,    solere"modo,nonetiam    oportere."  Etenim 

non  modo  pluris  putare,  quod  utile  videatur,  quam 
284 


BOOK  III.  iv 

the  sense  in  which  avc  wish  to  have  wise  "  understood ; 
neither  were  Marcus  Cato  and  Gaius  LaeHus  wise, 
though  they  were  so  considered  and  were  surnamed 
'the  wise."  Not  even  the  famous  Seven  were 
wise."  But  because  of  their  constant  observance  of 
mean"  duties  they  bore  a  certain  semblance  and 
Hkeness  to  wise  men. 

For  these  reasons  it  is  unlawful  either  to  weigh 
true  morahty  against  conflicting  expediency,  or 
common  morahty,  which  is  culiivated  by  those  who 
wish  to  be  considered  good  men,  against  what 
is  profitable ;  but  we  every-day  people  must  observe 
and  Hve  up  to  that  moral  right  which  comes 
within  the  range  of  our  comprehension  as  jealously 
as  the  truly  wise  men  have  to  observe  and  Hve  up 
to  that  which  is  moraHy  right  in  the  technical  and 
true  sense  of  the  word.  For  otherwise  we  cannot 
maintain  such  progress  as  we  have  made  in  the 
direction  of  virtue. 

So  much  for  those  who  have  won  a  reputation  for 
being  good  men  by  their  careful  observance  of  duty. 

Those,  on  the  other  hand,  who  measure  every-  Morai  rectitude 
thing  by  a  standard  of  profits  and  personal  advantage  exped^ency"' 
and  refuse  to  have  these  outweighed  by  considera- 
tions  of  moral  rectitude  are  accustomed,  in  consider- 
ing  any  question,  to  weigh  the  moraHy  right  against 
what  they  think  the  expedient;  good  men  are  not. 
And  so  I  beHeve  that  when  Panaetius  stated  that 
people  were  accustomed  to  hesitate  to  do  such 
weighing,  he  meant  precisely  what  he  said — merely 
that  such  was  their  custom,"  not  that  such  was 
their  duty.  And  he  gave  it  no  approval ;  for  it  is 
most  immoral  to  think  more  highly  of  the  apparently 
expedient  than  of  the  moraHy  right,  or  even  to  set 

885 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quod  honestum  sit/  sed  etiam  haec  inter  se  compa- 
rare  et  in  his  addubitare  turpissimum  est. 

Quid  ergo  est,  quod  non  numquam  dubitationem 
afferre  soleat  considerandumque  videatur?  Credo, 
si  quandp  dubitatio  accidit,  quale  sit  id,  de  quo  con- 

19  sideretur.  Saepe  enim  tempore  fit,  ut,  quod  turpe 
plerumque  haberi  soleat,  inveniatur  non  esse  turpe ; 
exempH  causa  ponatur  aliquid,  quod  pateat  latius : 
Quod  potest  maius  esse  scelus  quam  non  modo 
hominem,  sed  etiam  famiharem  hominem  occidere? 
Num  igitur  se  astrinxit  scelere,  si  qui  tyrannum 
occidit  quamvis  famiUarem  ?  Populo  quidem  Romano 
non  videtur,  qui  ex  omnibus  praeclaris  factis  illud 
pulcherrimum  existimat.  Vicit  ergo  utilitas  hone- 
statem  ?     Immo  vero  honestas  utihtatem  secuta  est.  ^ 

Itaque,  ut  sine  ullo  errore  diiudicare  possimus,  si 
quando  cum  illo,  quod  honestum  intellegimus,  pu- 
gnare  id  videbitur,  quod  appellamus  utile,  formula 
quaedam  constituenda  est;  quam  si  sequemur  in 
comparatione  rerum,  ab  officio  numquam  recedemus. 

20  Erit  autem  haec  formula  Stoicorum  rationi  discipU- 
naeque  maxime  consentanea ;  quam  quidem  his  hbris 
propterea  sequimur,  quod,  quamquam  et  a  veteribus 
Academicis  et  a  Peripateticis  vestris,  qui  quondam 
idem  erant,  qui  Academici,  quae  honesta  sunt,  ante- 
ponuntur  iis,  quae  videntur  utiha,  tamen  splendidius 

^sit  c,  Bt.»,  Muller ;  not  in  B  H  a  b,  Bt.» ;  est  Heine. 
*  esse  c,  Edd. ;  not  in  B  H  a  b. 

^  utilitatem  secuta  ^s/MSS.,  Miiller,  Hexne  ;  utilitatetn  ; 
honestatem  utilitas  secuta  est  Baiter,  Ed. 

286 


BOOK  III.  iv 

these  over  against  each   other  and  to  hesitate  to 
choose  between  them. 

What,  then,  is  it  that  may  sometimes  give  room  Occasion  for 
for  a  doubt  and  seem  to  call  for  consideration  ?  It  ^°^^^- 
is,  I  believej  when  a  question  arises  as  to  the  cliar- 
acter  of  an  action  under  consideration.  For  it  often 
happens,  owing  to  exceptional  circumstances,  that 
what  is  accustomed  under  ordinary  circumstances  to 
be  considered  morally  wrong  is  found  not  to  be 
morally  wrong.  For  the  sake  of  illustration,  let  us 
assume  some  particular  case  that  admits  of  wider 
application :  what  more  atrocious  crime  can  there  be 
than  to  kill  a  fellow-man,  and  especially  an  intimate 
friend  ?  But  if  anyone  kills  a  tyrant — be  he  never 
so  intimate  a  friend — he  has  not  laden  his  soul  with 
guilt,  has  he  ?  The  Roman  People,  at  all  events,  are 
not  of  that  opinion ;  for  of  all  glorious  deeds  they 
hold  such  an  one  to  be  the  most  noble.  Has  expedi- 
ency,  then,  prevailed  over  moral  rectitude  ?  Not  at 
all;  moral  rectitude  has  gone  hand  in  hand  with 
expediency. 

Some  general  rule,  therefore,  should  be  laid  down  Need  of  a  ruie 
to  enable  us  to  decide  without  error,  whenever  ^°'^^""**°'^^" 
what  we  call  the  expedient  seems  to  clash  with  what 
we  feel  to  be  morally  right;  and  if  we  follow  that 
rule  in  comparing  courses  of  conduct,  we  shall  never 
swerve  from  the  path  of  duty.  That  rule,  more- 
over,  shall  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  Stoics' 
system  and  doctrines.  It  is  their  teachings  that 
I  am  following  in  these  books,  and  for  this 
reason:  the  older  Academicians  and  your  Peripa- 
tetics  (who  were  once  the  same  as  the  Academi- 
cians)  give  what  is  morally  right  the  preference  over 
what  seems  expedient;  and  yet  the  discussion  of 

287 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

haec  ab  eis  disserunturj  ^  quibus,  quicquid  honestum 
est,  idem  utile  videtur  nec  utile  quicquam^  quod  non 
honestum,  quam  ab  iis,^  quibus  et  honestum  aliquid 
non  utile  et  utile^  non  honestum.  Nobis  autem 
nostra  Academia  magnam  licentiam  dat,  ut,  quod- 
cumque  maxime  probabile  occurrat,  id  nostro  iure 
liceat  defendere.     Sed  redeo  ad  formulam. 

21  V.  Detrahere  igitur  alteri  aliquid  et  hominem 
hominis  incommodo  suum  commodum  augere  magis 
est  contra  naturam  quam  mors,  quam  paupertas, 
quam  dolor,  quam  cetera,  quae  possunt  aut  corpori 
accidere  aut  rebus  externis.  Nam  principio  tollit 
convictum  humanum  et  societatem.  Si  enim  sic 
erimus  affecti,  ut  propter  Guum  quisque  emolumen- 
tum  spoliet  aut  violet  alterum,  disrumpi  necesse  est, 
eam  quae  maxime  est  secundum  naturam,  humani 

22  generis  societatem.  Ut,  si  unum  quodque  mem- 
brum  sensum  hunc  haberet,  ut  posse  putaret  se 
valere,  si  proximi  membri  valetudinem  ad  se  tradu- 
xisset,  debilitari  et  interire  totum  corpus  necesse 
esset,  sic,  si  unus  quisque  nostrum  ad  se  rapiat  com- 
moda  aliorum  detrahatque,  quod  cuique  possit, 
emolumenti  sui  gratia,  societas  hominum  et  com- 
munitas  evertatur  necesse  est.  Nam  sibi  ut  quisque 
malit,  quod  ad  usum  vitae  pertineat,  quam  alteri 
acquirere,  concessum  est  non  repugnante  natura, 

*  dtsseruniur  certsLin  MSS.,  C.  Lange  and  Fr.  Fabricius, 
Miiller,  Heine  ;  disserentur  MSS.,  Bt. 

'^iis  Edd.;  his  {hijs  c)  MSS. 

^et  honestum  .  .  .  .  et  tttile  Lambinus,  Bt.',  Miiller,  Heine, 
et  honestum ....  aut  utile  B  H  a  b  ;  aut  honestum  ....  aut 
utile  c,  Bt.' 
288 


BOOK  III    iv-v 

these  problems,  if  conducted  by  those  who  consider 
whatever  is  morally  right  also  expedient  and  nothing 
expedient  that  is  not  at  the  same  time  morally  right, 
will  be  more  illuminating  than  if  conducted  by  those 
who  think  that  something  not  expedient  may  be 
morally  right  and  that  something  not  morally  right 
may  be  expedient.  But  our  New  Academy  allows 
us  wide  Hberty,  so  that  it  is  within  my  right  to 
defend  any  theory  that  presents  itself  to  me  asmost 
probable.     But  to  return  to  my  rule. 

V.  Well  then,  for  a  man  to  take  something  from  Wrongfui  gains 
his  neighbour  and  to  profit  by  his  neighbour's  loss  is  faw^f*'"^*  *^* 
more  contrary  to  nature  than  is  death  or  poverty  or  (i)ofnature, 
pain  or  anything  else  that  can  affect  either  our  per- 
son  or  our  property.  For,  in  the  first  place,  injus- 
tice  is  fatal  to  social  Ufe  and  fellowship  between  man 
and  man.  For  if  we  are  so  disposed  that  each,  to 
gain  some  personal  profit,  will  defraud  or  injure  his 
neighbour,  then  those  bonds  of  human  society,  which 
are  most  in  accord  with  nature's  laws,  must  of 
necessity  be  broken.  Suppose,  by  way  of  compari- 
son,  that  each  one  of  our  bodily  members  should  con- 
ceive  this  idea  and  imagine  that  it  could  be  strong 
and  well  if  it  should  draw  off  to  itself  the  health  and 
strength  of  its  neiglibouring  member,  the  whole 
body  would  necessarily  be  enfeebled  and  die ;  so,  if 
eacli  one  of  us  should  seize  upon  the  property  of  his 
neighbours  and  take  from  each  whatever  he  could 
appropriate  to  his  own  use,  the  bonds  of  human 
society  must  inevitably  be  annihilated.  For,  without 
any  conflict  with  nature's  laws,  it  is  granted  that 
everybody  may  prefer  to  secure  for  himself  rather 
than  for  his  neighbour  what  is  essential  for  the  con- 
duct  of  life;  but  nature's  laws  do  forbid  us  to  increasf^ 
u  yb'o 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
illud  natura  non  patitur,  ut  aliorum  spoliis  nostras 
facultates,  cbpias,  opes  augcamus. 

23  Neque  vero  hoc  solum  natura,  id  est  iure  gentium, 
sed  etiam  legibus  populorum,  quibus  in  singulis  civi- 
tatibus  res  publica  continetur,  eodem  modo  consti- 
tutum  est,  ut  non  liceat  sui  commodi  causa  nocere 
alteri ;  hoc  enim  spectant  leges,  hoc  volunt,  incolu- 
mem  esse  civium  coniunctionem ;  quam  qui  diri- 
munt,  eos  morte,  exsilio,  vinclis,  damno  coercent. 

Atque  hoc  multo  magis  efficit  ipsa  naturae  ratio, 
quae  est  lex  divina  et  humana;  cui  parere  qui  veUt 
(omnes  autem  parebunt,  qui  secundum  naturam  vo- 
lent  vivere),  numquam  committet,  ut  alienum  appe- 
tat    et   id,    quod    altcri    detraxerit,    sibi    adsumat. 

24  Etenim  multo  magis  est  secundum  naturam  excel- 
sitas  animi  et  magnitudo  itemque  comitas,  iustitia, 
liberalitas  quam  voluptas,  quam  vita,  quam  divitiae ; 
quae  quidem  contemnere  et  pro  nihilo  ducere  com- 
parantem  cum  utilitate  communi  magni  animi  et 
excelsi  est.  [Detrahere  autem  de  altero  sui  com- 
modi  causa  magis  est  contra  naturam  quam  mors, 
quam  dolor,  quam  cetera  generis  eiusdem.]^ 

25  Itemque  magis  est  secundum  naturam  pro  omni- 
bus  gentibus,  si  fieri  possit,  conservandis  aut  iuvandis 
maximos  labores  molestiasque  suscipere  imitantem 
Herculem  illum,  quem  hominum  fama  beneficiorum 
memor  in  concilio  caelestium  collocavit,  quam  vivere 

^  Detrahere .  .  .  generis    eiusdem     MSS.      bracketed    by 
Baitcr,  Edd. 
2Q0 


BOOK  III.  V 

our  means,  wealth,  and  resources  by  despoilin^ 
others. 
3  But  this  principle  is  established  not  by  nature's  (2)  of  nations, 
laws  alone  (that  is^  by  the  common  rules  of  equity), 
but  also  by  the  statutes  of  particular  communities,  in 
accordance  with  which  in  individual  states  the  public 
interests  are  maintained.  In  all  these  it  is  with  one 
accord  ordaiued  that  no  man  shall  be  allowed  for  the 
sake  of  his  own  advantage  to  injure  his  neighbour, 
For  it  is  to  this  that  the  laws  have  regard ;  this  is 
their  intent,  that  the  bonds  of  union  between  citi- 
zens  should  not  be  impaired;  and  any  attempt  to 
destroy  these  bonds  is  repressed  by  the  penalty  of 
deathj  exile,  imprisonment,  or  fine. 

Again,  this  principle  follows  much  more  efFectually  (3)  of  gods  an 
directly  from  the  Reason  which  is  in  Nature,  which  ™^°' 
is  the  law  of  gods  and  men.  If  anyone  will  hearken 
to  that  voice  (and  all  will  hearken  to  it  who  wisli  to 
Uve  in  accord  with  nature's  laws),  he  will  never  be 
guilty  of  coveting  anything  that  is  his  neighbours 
or  of  appropriating  to  himself  what  he  has  taken 

24  from  his  neighbour.  Then,  too,  loftiness  and  great- 
ness  of  spirit,  and  courtesy,  justice,  and  generosity 
are  much  more  in  harmony  with  nature  than  are 
selfish  pleasure,  riches,  and  Hfe  itself ;  but  it  requires 
a  great  and  lofty  spirit  to  despise  these  latter  and 
count  them  as  naught,  when  one  weighs  them  over 
against  the  common  weal.  [But  for  anyone  to  rob  Seif-seeking 
his  neighbour  for  his  own  profit  is  more  contrary  to  self-sacriflce 
nature  than  death,  pain,  and  the  like.] 

25  In  Hke  manner  it  is  more  in  accord  with  nature 
to  emulate  the  great  Hercules  and  undergo  the 
greatest  toil  and  trouble  for  the  sake  of  aiding  or 
saving  the  world,  if  possible,  than  to  live  in  seclusion, 

u2  291 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
in  solitudine  non  modo  sine  ullis  molestiis,  sed  etiam 
in  maximis  voluptatibus  abundantem  omnibus  copiis, 
ut  excellas  etiam  pulchritudine  et  viribus. 

Quocirca  optimo  quisque  et  splendidissimo  inge- 
nio  longe  illam  vitam  huic  anteponit.  Ex  quo 
efficitur  hominem  naturae  oboedientem  homini 
nocere  non  posse. 

26  Deinde,  qui  alterum  violat,  ut  ipse  aliquid  com- 
modi  consequatur,  aut  nihil  existimat  se  facere  con- 
tra  naturam  aut  magis  fugiendam^  censet  mortem, 
paupertatem,  dolorem,  amissionem  etiam  liberorum, 
propinquorum,  amicorum  quam  facere  cuiquam 
iniuriam.  Si  nihil  existimat  contra  naturam  fieri 
hominibus  violandis,  quid  cum  eo  disseras,  qui 
omnino  hominem  ex  homine  tollat?  sin  fugiendum 
id  quidem  censet,  sed^  multo  illa  peiora,  mortem, 
paupertatem,  dolorem,  errat  in  eo,  quod  ullum  aut 
corporis  aut  fortunae  vitium  vitiis  animi  gravius 
existimat. 

VI.  Ergo  unum  deoet  esse  omnibus  propositum, 
ut  eadem  sit  utilitas  unius  cuiusque  et  universorum ; 
quam  si  ad  se  quisque  rapiet,  dissolvetur  omnis 
humana  consortio. 

27  Atque  etiam,  si  hoc  natura  praescribit,  ut  homo 

^fugiendam  b,  Y.i\.\  fttgienda  B  H  a  c. 
*sed  c,  Edd. ;  e/  B  H  a  b. 


BOOK  III.  v-vi 

not  only  free  from  all  care,  but  revelling  in  pleasures 
and  abounding  in  wealth,  while  excelling  others 
also  in  beauty  and  strength.  Thus  Hercules  denied 
himself  and  underwent  toil  and  tribulation  for  the 
world,  and,  out  of  gratitude  for  his  services,  popular 
behef  has  given  him  a  place  in  the  council  of  the 
gods. 

The  better  and  more  noble,  therefore,  the  charac- 
ter  with  which  a  man  is  endowed,  the  more  does  he 
prefer  the  life  of  service  to  the  life  of  pleasure. 
Whence  it  follows  that  man,  if  he  is  obedient  to 
nature,  cannot  do  harm  to  his  fellow-man. 

Finally,  if  a  man  wrongs  his  neighbour  to  gain 
some  advantage  for  himself,  he  must  either  imagine 
that  he  is  not  acting  in  defiance  of  nature  or  he 
must  believe  that  death,  poverty,  pain,  or  even  the 
loss  of  children,  kinsmen,  or  friends,  is  more  to  be 
shunned  than  an  act  of  injustice  against  another. 
If  he  thinks  he  is  not  violating  the  laws  of  nature, 
when  he  wrongs  his  fellow-men,  how  is  one  to  argue 
with  the  individual  who  takes  away  from  man  all 
that  makes  him  man  ?  But  if  he  believes  that  while 
such  a  course  should  be  avoided,  the  other  alterna- 
tives  are  much  worse — namely,  death,  poverty,  pain 
— he  is  mistaken  in  thinking  that  any  ills  afFecting 
either  his  person  or  his  property  are  more  serious 
than  those  afFecting  his  soul. 

VI.  This,  then,  ought  to  be  the  chief  end  of  all  The  interest  oi 
men,  to  make  the  interest  of  each  individual  and  of  interest  ol  the 
the  whole  body  politic  identical.   For  if  the  individ-  '«"iividuai. 
ual   appropriates  to   selfish   ends   what   should   be 
devoted  to  the  common  good,  all  human  fellowship 
will  be  destroyed. 

And  furtlier,  if  nature  ordains  that  one  man  shall 

2^3 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

homini,  quicumque  sit,  ob  eam  ipsam  causam,  quod 

is  homo  sit,  consultum  velit,  necesse  est  secundum 

eandem  naturam  omnium  utilitatem  esse  commu- 

nem.     Quod  si  ita  est,  una  continemur  omnes  et 

eadem  lege   naturae,  idque  ipsum   si  ita  est,  certe 

violare  alterum  naturae  lege  prohibemur.     Verum 

28  autemprimum;  verum  igitur  extremum.     Nam  illud 

quidem  absurdum  est,  quod  quidam  dicunt,  parenti 

se  aut  fratri  nihil  detracturos  sui  commodi  causa, 

aham  rationem    esse   civium   rehquorum.     Hi  sibi 

nihil  iuris,   nullam  societatem    communis    utiHtatis 

causa  statuunt   esse   cum    civibus,    quae    sententia 

omnem  societatem  distrahit  civitatis. 

Qui   autem    civium  rationem  dicunt    habendam, 

externorum  negant,  ii   dirimunt  communem  humani 

generis  societatem ;  qua  sublata  beneficentia,  Hbera- 

litaSj   bonitaSj   iustitia    funditus    tolHtur;    quae   qui 

tollunt,  etiam  adversus  deos  immortales  impii  iudi- 

candi  sunt.     Ab  iis  enim  constitutam  inter  homines 

societatem  evertunt,  cuius  societatis  artissimum  vin- 

culum  est  magis  arbitrari  esse  contra  naturam  homi- 

nem  homini  detrahere  sui  commodi  causa  quam  om- 

nia  incommoda  subire  vel  externa  vel  corporis  .  .  . 

vel  etiam  jpsius  animi,  quae  vacent  iustitia'"^;  haec 

enim  una  virtus  omnium  est  domina  et  regina  vir- 

tutum. 

'  ii  Bt.,  Ed.  ;  A/  B  a  b ;  hii  H  ;  hij  c. 

'^  quac   vacent   iustitia  MSS. ,   Ed.,  Heine  ;  quae   vacent 
iniustitia  cod.  Ubaldini,  Bt.';  quae  non  v.  iustitia  O. 

«I.e. ,  there  are  no  circumstances  of  loss  or  gain  that  cai» 
warrant  a  violation  of  justice. 

294 


BOOK  III.  vi 

desire  to  promote  the  interests  of  a  fellow-man, 
whoever  he  mny  be,  just  because  he  is  a  fellow-man, 
then  it  follows,  in  aceordance  with  that  same  nature, 
that  there  are  interests  that  all  men  have  in  com- 
mon.  And  if  this  is  true,  we  are  all  subject  to  one 
and  the  same  law  of  nature ;  and  if  this  also  is  true, 
we  are  certainly  forbidden  by  nature's  law  to  wrong 
our  neighbour.  Now  the  first  assumption  is  true; 
therefore  the  conclusion  is  likewise  true.  For  that 
is  an  absurd  position  which  is  taken  by  some  people, 
who  say  that  they  will  not  rob  a  parent  or  a  brother 
for  their  own  gain,  but  that  their  relation  to  the 
rest  of  their  fellow-citizens  is  quite  another  thing. 
Such  people  contend  in  essence  that  they  are  bound 
to  their  fellow-citizens  by  no  mutual  obligations, 
social  ties,  or  common  interests.  This  attitude 
demolishes  the  whole  structure  of  civil  society. 

Others  again  who  say  that  regard  should  be  had  Betterendure 
for  the  rights  of  fellow-citizens,  but  not  of  foreigners,  w^rong^afdtow 
would  destroy  the  universal  brotherhood  of  man- ^an^oi^g^'"- 
kind;  and  when  this  is  annihilated,  kindness, 
generosity,  goodness,  and  justice  must  utterly 
perish;  and  those  who  work  all  this  destruction 
must  be  considered  as  wickedly  rebelling  against 
the  immortal  gods.  Por  they  uproot  tlie  fellowship 
which  the  gods  have  established  bctween  human 
beings,  and  tlie  closest  bond  of  this  fellowship  is 
the  conviction  that  it  is  more  repugnant  to  nature 
for  man  to  rob  a  fellow-man  for  his  own  gain  tlian 
to  endure  all  possible  loss,  whetlier  to  his  property 
or  to  his  person  .  .  .  or  even  to  liis  very  soul — so  far 
as  these  losses  are  not  concerned  with  justice^;  for 
this  virtue  is  the  sovereign  mistress  and  queen  of 
all  the  virtues. 

295 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

29  Forsitan  quispiam  dixerit:  Nonne  igitur  sapiens, 
si  fame  ipse  conficiatur,  abstulerit  cibum  alteri  ho- 
mini  ad  nullam  rem  utili  ?  [Minime  vero ;  non  enim 
mihi  est  vita  mea  utiHor  quam  animi  tahs  affectio, 
neminem  ut  violem  commodi  mei  gratia.]  ^  Quid  ?  si 
Phalarim,  crudelem  tyrannum  et  immanem,  virbonus, 
ne  ipse  frigore  conficiatur,  vestitu  spoliare  possit, 
nonne  faciat? 

30  Haec  ad  iudicandum  sunt  facillima.  Nam,  si 
quid  ab  homine  ad  nullam  partem  utili  utilitatis 
tuae  causa  detraxeris,  inhumane  feceris  contraque 
naturae  legem;  sin  autem  is  tu  sis,  qui  multam 
utilitatem  rei  pubhcae  atque  hominum  societati,  si  in 
vita  remaneas,  afferre  possis,  si  quid  ob  eam  causam 
alteri  detraxeris,  non  sit  reprehendendum.  Sin 
autem  id  non  sit  eius  modi,  suum  cuique  incommo- 
dum  ferendum  est  potius  quam  de  alterius  commodis 
detrahendum.  Non  igitur  magis  est  contra  naturam 
morbus  aut  egestas  aut  quid  eius  modi  quam  detractio 
atque  appetitio  aUeni,  sed  communis  utilitatis  dere- 

31  lictio  contra  naturam  est;  est  enim  iniusta.  Itaque 
lex  ipsa  naturae,  quae  utiUtatem  hominum  conservat 
et  continet,  decernet  profecto,  ut  ab  homine  inerti 
atque  inutiU  ad  sapientem,  bonum,  fortem  virum 
transferantur  res  ad  vivendum  necessariae,  qui  si 
occiderit,  muUum  de  communi  utiUtate  detraxerit, 
modo  hoc  ita  faciat,  ut  ne  ipse  de  se  bene  existimans 
seseque  diUgens  hanc  causam  habeat  ad  iniuriam. 

*  Bracketed  by  Unger,  Edd. 
296 


BOOK  III.  vi 

But,  perhaps,  some  one  may  say:  Well,  then, 
suppose  a  wise  man  were  starving  to  death,  might 
he  not  take  the  bread  of  some  perfectly  useless 
member  of  society?"  [Not  at  all;  for  my  hfe  is  not 
more  precious  to  me  than  that  temper  of  soul  which 
would  keep  me  from  doing  wrong  to  anybody  for  my 
own  advantage.]  "Oragain;  supposing  a  righteous 
man  were  in  a  position  to  rob  the  cruel  and  inhuman 
tyrant  Phalaris  of  clothing,  might  he  not  do  it  to 
keep  himself  from  freezing  to  death  ?  " 

These  cases  are  very  easy  to  decide.  For  if  merely 
for  one's  own  benefit  one  were  to  take  somethingaway 
from  a  man,  though  he  were  a  perfectly  worthless 
fellow,  it  would  be  an  act  of  meanness  and  contrary 
to  nature's  law.  But  suppose  one  would  be  able,  Theinterestsoj 
by  remaining  alive,  to  render  signal  service  to  the  dedde^about 
state  and  to  human  society — if  from  that  motive  one  exceptions. 
should  take  something  from  another,  it  would  not 
be  a  matter  for  censure.  But  if  such  is  not  the  case, 
each  one  must  bear  his  own  burden  of  distress  rather 
than  rob  a  neighbour  of  his  rights.  We  are  not  to 
say,  therefore,  that  sickness  or  want  or  any  evil  of 
that  sort  is  more  repugnant  to  nature  than  to  covet 
and  to  appropriate  what  is  one's  neighbour's ;  but  we 
do  maintain  that  disregard  of  the  common  interests 
is  repugnant  to  nature ;  for  it  is  unjust.  And  there- 
fore  nature's  law  itself,  which  protects  and  conserves 
human  interests,  will  surely  determine  that  a  man 
who  is  wise,  good,  and  brave,  should  in  emergency 
have  the  neccssaries  of  life  transferred  to  him  from 
a  person  who  is  idle  and  worthless;  for  the  good 
man's  death  would  be  a  heavy  loss  to  the  common 
weal;  only  let  him  beware  that  self-esteem  and 
self-love  do  not  find  in  such  a  transfer  of  possessions 

297 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Ita  semper  officio  fungetur  utilitati  consulens  homi- 
iium  et  ei,  (juam  saepe  commemoro,  humanae 
societati. 

32  Nam  quod  ad  Phalarim  attinet,  perfacile  iudicium 
est.  Nulla  est  enim  societas  nobis  cum  tyrannis,  et 
potius  summa  distractio  est,  neque  est  contra  naturam 
spoliare  eum,  si  possis,  quem  est  honestum  necare, 
atque  hoc  omne  genus  pestiferum  atque  impium  ex 
horainum  communitate  exterminandum  est.  Etenim, 
ut  membra  quaedam  amputantur,  si  et  ipsa  sanguine 
et  tamquam  spiritu  carere  coeperunt  et  nocent 
reliquis  partibus  corporis,  sic  ista  in  figura  hominis 
feritas  et  immanitas  beluae  a  communi  tamquara 
humanitatis  corpore^  segreganda  est. 

Huius  generis  quaestiones  sunt  oranes  eae,  in 
quibus  ex  tempore  officium  exquiritur. 

33  VII.  Eius  modi  igitur  credo  res  Panaetium  perse- 
cuturum  fuisse,  nisi  aliqui  casus  aut  occupatio  eius 
consilium  pereraisset.  Ad  quas  ipsas  consultationes 
superioribus  libris  satis  multa  praecepta  sunt,  ex 
quibus^  perspici  possit,  quid  sit  propter  turpitudinem 
fugiendum,  quid  sit,  quod  idcirco  fugiendum  non  sit, 
quod  omnino  turpe  non  sit. 

Sed  quoniam  operi  inchoato,  prope  tamen  absoluto 
tamquara  fastigiura  imponinius,  ut  geometrae  solent 
non  orania  docere,  sed  postulare,  ut  quaedara  sibi 
concedantur,  quo  facihus,  quae  volunt,  expUcent,  sic 

'  humanitatis  corpore  Murei,  cod.  Guelf.,  Ed.,  Bt.,  Heine  ; 
humanitate  corporis  MSS.,  Miiller ;  Unger  strikes  out 
corporis. 

'^  superioribus .  .  .  ex  quibus  Walker,  Bl.*,  Ed.  ;  ex  superi- 
oribiis.  . .  9?</dwsMSS.,  Bi.^;superioribus .  .  .  ywjAMS^Heine. 

898 


BOOK  III.  vi-vii 

a  pretext  for  wrong-doing.  But  thus  guided  in  his 
decision,  the  good  man  will  always  perform  his  duty, 
promoting  the  general  interests  of  human  society  on 
which  I  am  so  fond  of  dwelling. 

As  for  the  case  of  Phalaris,  a  decision  is  quite  No  duty  due  lo 
simple :  we  have  no  ties  of  fellowship  with  a  tyrant,  *  ^^^"  ' 
but  rather  the  bitterest  feud ;  and  it  is  not  opposed 
to  nature  to  rob,  if  one  can,  a  man  whom  it  is  morally 
right  to  kill ; — nay,  all  that  pestilent  and  abominable 
race  sliould  be  exterminated  from  human  society. 
And  this  may  be  done  by  proper  measures;  for  as 
certain  members  are  amputated,  if  they  shoAV  signs 
themselves  of  being  bloodless  and  virtually  hfeless 
and  thus  jeopardize  the  health  of  the  other  parts  of 
the  body,  so  those  fierce  and  savage  monsters  in 
human  form  should  be  cut  ofF  from  what  may  be 
called  the  common  body  of  humanity. 

Of  this  sort  are  all  those  problems  in  wliich  we 
have  to  determine  what  moral  duty  is,  as  it  varies 
with  varying  circumstances. 

VII.  It  is  subjects  of  this  sort  that  I  believe 
Panaetius  would  have  followed  up,  had  not  some 
accident  or  business  interfered  with  his  design.  For 
the  elucidation  of  these  very  questions  there  are  in 
his  former  books  rules  in  plenty,  from  which  one 
can  learn  what  should  be  avoided  because  of  its  im- 
morality  and  what  does  not  have  to  be  avoided  for 
the  reason  that  it  is  not  immoral  at  all. 

We  are  now  putting  the  capstone,  as  it  were,  upon 
Dur  structure,  which  is  unfinished  to  be  sure,  but  still 
almost  completed;  and  as  matheraaticians  make  a 
practice  of  not  demonstrating  every  proposition  but 
require  that  certain  axioms  be  assumed  as  true,  iii 
prder  inore  easily  to  explain  their  meanLng,  so,  my 

299 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

ego  a  te  postulo,  mi  Cicero,  ut  mihi  coneedas,  si 
potes,  nihil  praeter  id,  quod  honestum  sit,  propter 
se  esse  expetendum.  Sin  hoc  non  licet  per  Cratip- 
pum,  at  illud  certe  dabis,  quod  honestum  sit,  id  esse 
maxime  propter  se  expetendum.  Mihi  utrumvis 
satis  est  et  tum  hoc,  tum  illud  probabilius  videtur 
nec  praeterea  quicquam  probabile. 
S4  Ac  primum  in  hoc  Panaetius  defendendus  est, 
quod  non  utilia  cum  honestis  pugnare  aliquando 
posse  dixerit  (neque  enim  ei  fas  erat),  sed  ea,  quae 
viderentur  utiHa.  Nihil  vero  utile,  quod  non  idem 
honestum,  nihil  honestum,  quod  non  idem  utile  sit, 
saepe  testatur  negatque  ullam  pestem  maiorem  in 
vitam  liominum  invasisse  quam  eorum  opinionem, 
qui  ista  distraxerint.  Itaque,  non  ut  aliquando 
anteponeremus  utiha  honestis,  sed  ut  ea  sine  errore 
diiudicarenius,  si  quando  incidissent,^  induxit  eam, 
quae  videretur  esse,  non  quae  esset,*  repugnantiam. 
Hanc  igitur  partem  rehctam  explebimus  nullis 
adminicuHs,  sed,  ut  dicitur,  Marte  nostro.  Neque 
enim  quicquam  est  de  hac  parte  post  Panaetium 
expHcatum,  quod  quidem  mihi  probaretur,  de  iis, 
quae  in  manus  meas  venerunt.  ^ 

^  ea  .  .  .  incidissent  MSS.,  Bt.',  Heine,  Ed. ;  eam  [repugf- 
nantiam].  .  .  incidisset  Unger,  Bt.* 

"^  venerunt  Manutius,  Edd. ;  venerint  MSS. 

aAs  a  Peripatetic,  Cratippus  insisted  that  there  was 
natural  good  as  well  as  moral  good  ;  thus  health,  honour, 
etc,  were  good  and  worth  seeliing-  for  their  own  sake, 
though  in  less  degree  than  virtue.  But  the  Stoics  (and 
Cicero  is  now  spealting  as  a  Stoic)  called  all  those  other 
blessings  not"good"  nor  "  worth  seeking  for  their  own 
sake,"  but  "inditTerent." 

bWith  this  he  waves  aside,  without  even  the  honour  of 
mentioning  them,  the  Epicureans,  Cyrenaics,  etc, 

c  Because  he  was  a  Stoic. 

300 


BOOK  III.  vii 

dear  Cicero,  I  ask  you  to  assume  with  me,  if  you  can,  Morai  Right 

that  nothing  is  worth  the  seeking  for  its  own  sake  or the chk^goi 

except  what  is  morally  right.    But  if  Cratippus*  does 

not  permit  this  assumption,  you  will  still  grant  this 

at  least — that  what  is  morally  right  is  the  object 

most  worth  the  seeking  for  its  own  sake.     Either 

alternative  is  sufficient  for  my  purposes ;  first  the  one 

and  then  the  other  seems  to  me  the  more  probable; 

and  besides  these,  there  is  no  other  alternative  that 

seems  probable  at  all.'' 

In  the  iirst  place,  I  must  undertake  the  defence  Vindication  of 
of  Panaetius  on  this  point ;  for  he  has  said  not  that  nothlng  «n  b* 
the  truly   expedient  could   under    certain    circum-  expedient  that 

1111  11  i//'i  11  notmorally 

stances  clash  with  the  morally  right  {ior  he  could  right. 
not  have  said  that  conscientiously  *^),  but  only  that 
what  seemed  expedient  could  do  so.  For  he  often 
bears  witness  to  the  fact  that  nothing  is  really  ex- 
pedient  that  is  not  at  the  same  time  morally  right, 
and  nothing  morally  right  that  is  not  at  the  same 
time  expedient ;  and  he  says  that  no  greater  curse 
has  ever  assailed  human  Hfe  than  the  doctrine  of 
those  who  have  separated  these  two  conceptions.  And 
so  he  introduced  an  apparent,  not  a  real,  conflict 
between  them,  not  to  the  end  that  we  should  under 
certain  circumstances  give  the  expedient  preference 
over  the  moral,  but  that,  in  case  they  ever  should  get 
in  each  other's  way,  we  might  decide  between  thera 
without  uncertainty.  This  part,  therefore,  which 
was  passed  over  by  Panaetius,  I  will  carry  to  com- 
pletion  without  any  auxiharies,  but  fighting  my  own 
battle,  as  the  saying  is.  For  of  all  that  has  been 
worked  out  on  this  line  since  the  time  of  Panaetius, 
notliing  thdt  has  come  into  my  hands  is  at  all  satis- 
factory  to  me. 

301 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

35  VIII.  Cum  igitur  Jiliqua  species  utilitatis  obiecta 
est,  commoveri  necesse  est;  sed  si,  cum  animum 
attenderis,  turpitudinem  videas  adiunctam  ei  rci, 
quae  speciem  utilitatis  attulerit,  tum  non  utiliL.is 
relinquenda  est,  sed  intellegendum,  ubi  turpitudo 
sit,  ibi  utilitatem  esse  non  posse.  Quodsi  nihil  est 
tam  contra  naturam  quam  turpitudo  (recta  enim  et 
convenientia  et  constantia  natura  desiderat  asper- 
naturque  contraria)  nihilque  tam  secundum  naturam 
quam  utilitas,  cerle  in  eadem  re  utilitas  et  turpi- 
tudo*  esse  non  potest. 

Itemque,  si  ad  honestatem  nati  sumus  eaque  aut 
sola  expetcnda  est,  ut  ^enoni  visum  est,  aut  certe 
omni  pondere  gravior  habenda  quam  reliqua  omnia, 
quod  Aristoteli  placet,  necesse  est,  quod  honestum 
sit,  id  esse  aut  solum  aut  summum  bonum ;  quod 
autem  bonum,  id  certe  utile ;  ita,  quicquid  honestum, 
id  utile. 

36  Quare  error  hominum  non  proborum,  cum  ahquid, 
quod  utile  visum  est,  arripuit,  id  continuo  secernit 
ab  honesto.  Hinc  sicae,  hinc  venena,  hinc  fal.sa 
testamenta  nascuntur,  hinc  furta,  peculatus,  expila- 
tiones  direplionesque  sociorum  et  civium,  hinc  opum 
nimiarum,  potentiae  non  ferendae,  postremo  etiani 
jn  Hberis  civitatibus  regnandi  exsistunt  cupiditates, 
quibus  nihil  ncc  taetrius  nec  foedius  excogitari  potest. 

'  re  utilitas  et  turp.  c,  Edd  •  re  ulili  turpitudo  B  H  a  U 
302 


BooK  in.  viii 

VIII.  Now  wlien  we  meet  with  expediency  in  fixpediency  and 
some  specious  form  or  other,  we  cannot  help  being  iJJlSmpatibie. 
influenced  by  it.  But  if  upon  closer  inspection  one 
sees  that  there  is  some  immorahty  connected  with 
what  presents  the  appearance  of  expediency,  then 
one  is  not  necessarily  to  sacrifice  expediency  but 
to  recognize  that  there  can  be  no  expediency  where 
there  is  immorality.  But  if  there  is  nothing  so 
repugnant  to  nature  as  immorahty  (for  nature 
demands  right  and  harniony  and  consistency  and 
abhors  their  opposites),  and  if  nothing  is  so 
thoroughly  in  accord  with  nature  as  expediency, 
then  surely  expediency  and  immorahty  cannot  co- 
exist  in  one  and  the  same  object. 

Again:  if  we  are  born  for  moral  rectitude  and  if  Themorally 
that  is  either  the  only  thing  worth  seeking,  as  Zeno  expedknt!" 
thought,  or  at  least  to  be  esteemed  as  infinitely  out- 
weighing  everything  else,  as  Aristotle  holds,  then  it 
necessarily  follows  that  the  morally  right  is  either 
the  sole  good  or  the  supreme  good.  Now,  that 
which  is  good  is  certainly  expedient ;  consequently, 
that  which  is  morally  right  is  also  expedient. 

Thus  it  is  the  error  of  men  who  are  not  strictly  i.heevilsresult- 
upright  to  seize  upon  something  that  seems  to  be  *"?  ^'^°'P  '^°'^' 
expedient  and  straightway  to  dissociate  that  from  ^^^^'^^^^' 
the   question    of  moral   right.     To  this  error  the 
assassin's  dagger,  the  poisoned  cup,  the  forged  wills 
owe  their  origin ;  this  gives  rise  to  theft,  embezzle- 
ment  of  public  funds,  exploitation  and  plundering 
of  provincials  and  citizens;  this  engenders  also  the 
lust  for  excessive  wealth,  for  despotic  power,  and 
finally  for  making  oneself  king  even  in  the  midst  of 
a  free  peopie;  and  anything  more  atrocious  or  repul- 
sive  than  Bueh  a  passion ,  cannot  be  conceived.     For 
^  303 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Emolumenta  enim  rerum  fallacibus  iudiciis  vident, 
poenam  non  dico  legum,  quam  saepe  perrumpunt, 
sed  ipsius  turpitudinis,  «quae  acerbissima  est,  non 
vident. 

37  Quam  ob  rem  hoc  quidem  deliberantium  genus 
pellatur  e  medio  (est  enim  totum  sceleratum  et  im- 
pium),  qui  deliberant,  utrum  id  sequantur,  quod 
honestum  esse  videant,  an  se  scientes  scelere  con- 
taminent;  in  ipsa  enim  dubitatione  facinus  inest, 
etiamsi  ad  id  non  pervenerint.  Ergo  ea^eliberanda 
omnino  non  sunt,  in  quibus  est  turpis  ipsa  delibe- 
ratio. 

Atque  etiam  ex  omni  deliberatione  celandi  et  oc- 
cultandi  spes  opinioque  removenda  est.  Satis  enim 
nobis,  si  modo  in  philosophia  aUquid  profecimus, 
persuasum  esse  debet,  si  omnes  deos  hominesque 
celare  possimus,  nihil  tamen  avare,  nihil  iniuste, 
nihil  Hbidinose,  nihil  incontinenter  esse  faciendum. 

38  IX.  Hinc  ille  Gyges  inducitur  a  Platone,  qui,  cum 
terra  discessisset  magnis  quibusdam  imbribus,  de- 
scendit  in  illum  hiatum  aeneumque  equum,  ut  ferunt 
fabulae,  animadvertit,  cuius  in  lateribus  fores  essent ; 
quibus  apertis  corpus  horainis  mortui  vidit  magnitu- 
dine  invisitata^  anulumque  aureum  in  digito ;  quem 
ut  detraxit,  ipse  induit  (erat  autem  regius  pastor), 
tum  in  conciUum  se  pastorum  recepit.  Ibi  eum 
palam  eius  anuU  ad  palmam  converterat,  a  nullo 
videbatur,  ipse  autem  omnia  vidcbat;    idem  rursus 

^invisitata  B  H',  Edd. ;  intisitata  W  a  b  c. 
804 


BOOK  III.  viii-ix 

with  a  false  perspective  they  see  the  material  rewards 
but  not  the  punishment — I  do  not  mean  the  penalty 
of  the  law,  which  they  often  escape,  but  the  heaviest 
penalty  of  all,  their  own  demoralization. 

Away,  then,  with  questioners  of  thi»  sort  (for 
their  whole  tribe  is  wicked  and  ungodly),  who  stop 
to  consider  whether  to  pursue  the  course  which  they 
see  is  morally  right  or  to  stain  their  hands  with  what 
they  know  is  crime.  For  there  is  guilt  in  their  very 
dehberation,  even  though  they  never  reach  the  per- 
formance  of  the  deed  itself.  Those  actions,  there- 
fore,  should  not  be  considered  at  all,  the  mere  con- 
sideration  of  which  is  itself  morally  wrong. 

Furthermore,  in  any  such  consideration  we  must  Moral  rectitucu 
banish  any  vain  liope  and  thought  that  our  action  ^*"'*®^"^*^'"' 
may  be  covered  up  and  kept  secret.  For  if  we  have 
only  made  some  real  progress  in  the  study  of  philo- 
sophy,  we  ought  to  be  quite  convinced  that,  even 
though  we  may  escape  the  eyes  of  gods  and  men, 
we  must  still  do  nothing  that  savours  of  greed 
or  of  injustice,  of  lust  or  of  intemperance. 

IX.  By  way  of  illustrating  this  truth  Plato  intro-  Thestoryof 
duces  the  famihar  story  of  Gyges :  Once  upon  a  time  ^^1.^*  ^"'^  **** 
the  earth  opened  in  consequence  of  heavy  rains; 
Gyges  went  down  into  the  chasm  and  saw,  so  the  story 
goes,  a  horse  of  bronze ;  in  its  side  was  a  door.  On 
opening  this  door  he  saw  the  body  of  a  dead  man  of 
enormous  size  with  a  gold  ring  upon  his  finger.  He 
removed  this  and  put  it  on  his  own  hand  and  then 
repaired  to  an  assembly  of  the  shepherds,  for  he  was 
a  shepherd  of  the  king.  As  often  as  he  turned  the 
bezel  of  the  ring  inwards  toward  the  palm  of  his 
hand,  he  became  invisible  to  every  one,  while  he 
himself  saw  everything ;  but  as  often  as  he  turned 
X  305 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

videbatur,  cum  iu  locum  anulum  inverterat.  Itaque 
hac  opportunitate  anuli  usus  reginae  stuprum  intulit 
eaque  adiutrice  regem  dominum  interemit,  sustulit, 
quos  obstare  arbitrabatur,  nec  in  his  eum  facinoribus 
quisquam  potuit  videre.  Sic  repente  anuH  beneficio 
rex  exortus  est  Lydiae. 

Hunc  igitur  ipsum  anulum  si  habeat  sapiens, 
nihilo^  plus  sibi  licere  putet  peccare,  quam  si  non 
haberet^;  honesta  enim  bonis  viris,  non  occulta 
quaeruntur. 
39  Atque  hoc  loco  philosophi  quidam,  minime  mah 
illi  quidem,  sed  non  satis  acuti,  fictam  et  commenti- 
ciam  fabulam  prolatam  dicunt  a  Platone ;  quasi  vero 
ille  aut  factum  id  esse  aut  fieri  potuisse  defendat! 
Haec  est  vis  huius  anuli  et  huius  exempli :  si  nemo 
sciturus,  nemo  ne  suspicaturus  quidem  sit,  cum 
aliquid  divitiarum,  potentiae,  dominationis,  libidinis 
causa  feceris,  si  id  dis  hominibusque  futurum  sit 
semper  ignotum,  sisne  facturus.  Negant  id  fieri 
posse.  Nequaquam^  potest  id  quidem ;  sed  quaero, 
quod  negant  posse,  id  si  posset,  quidnam  facerent. 
Urguent  rustice  sane ;  negant  enim  posse  et  in  eo 
perstant ;  hoc  verbum  quid  valeat,  non  vident.  Cum 
enim  quaerimus,  si  celare  possint,  quid  facturi  sint, 
non  quaerimus,  possintne  cclare,  sed  tamquam  tor- 
menta  quaedam  adhibemus,  ut,  si  respondcrint  se 

*  ni{c)hilo  c,  Edd. ;  nihil  B  H  a  b. 
^peecare  .  .  .  haberet  MSS. ;  bracketcd  by  Madv.,  Bt. 
^nequaquam  Manutius,  Bt.,  Ed.,  W<i\ne;  quamguarn  (and 
yet  it  is  possible)  MSS.,  MGIUt. 

S06 


BOOK  III.  ix 

it  back  to  its  proper  position,  he  became  visible 
again.  And  so,  with  the  advantage  which  the  ring 
gave  him,  he  debauched  the  queen,  and  with  her 
assistance  he  murdered  his  royal  master  and  removed 
all  those  who  he  thought  stood  in  his  way,  without 
anyone's  being  able  to  detect  him  in  his  crimes. 
Thus,  by  virtue  of  the  ring.  he  shortly  rose  to  be 
king  of  Lydia. 

Now,  suppose  a  wise  man  had  just  such  a  ring,  he 
would  not  imagine  that  he  was  free  to  do  wrong  any 
more  than  if  he  did  not  have  it ;  for  good  men  aim 
to  secure  not  secrecy  but  the  right. 

And  yet  on  this  point  certain  philosophers,  who 
are  not  at  all  vicious  but  who  are  not  very  discern- 
ing,  declare  that  the  story  related  by  Plato  is  ficti- 
tious  and  imaginary.  As  if  he  affirmed  that  it  was 
actually  true  or  even  possible!  But  the  force  of  the  xhemoraiof 
illustration  of  the  ring  is  this:  if  nobody  were  to  *''^^*°'^^* 
know  or  even  to  suspect  the  truth,  when  you  do  any- 
thing  to  gain  riches  or  power  or  sovereignty  or 
sensual  gratification — if  your  act  should  be  hidden 
for  ever  from  the  knowledge  of  gods  and  men,  would 
you  do  it?  The  condition,  they  say,  is  impossible. 
Of  course  it  is.  But  my  question  is,  if  that  were 
possible  which  they  declare  to  be  impossible,  what, 
pray,  would  one  do?  They  press  their  point 
with  right  boorish  obstinacy :  they  assert  that  it  is 
impossible  and  insist  upon  it;  they  refuse  to  see  the 
meaning  of  my  words,  "if  possible."  For  when 
we  ask  what  they  would  do,  if  they  could  escape 
detection,  we  are  not  asking  whether  they  can  escape 
detection ;  but  we  put  them  as  it  were  upon  the  rack : 
should  they  answer  that,  if  impunity  were  assured, 
they  would  do  what  was  most  to  their  selfish  interest, 
x2  307 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
impunitate  proposita  facturos,  quod  expediat,  facino- 
rosos  se  esse  fateantur,  si  negent^  omnia  turpia  per 
se  ipsa  fugienda  esse  concedant. 
Sed  iam  ad  propositum  revertamur. 

40  X,  Incidunt  multae  saepe  causae,  quae  conturbent 
animos  utilitatis  specie,  non  cum  <  hoc  deliberetur, 
relinquendane  sit  honestas  propter  utilitatis  magni- 
tudinem  (nam  id  quidem  improbum  est),  sed  illud, 
possitne  id,  quod  utile  videatur,  fieri  non  turpiter. 
Cum  Collatino  collegae  Brutus  imperium  abrogabat, 
poterat  videri  facere  id  iniuste ;  fuerat  enim  in  regi- 
bus  expellendis  socius  Bruti  consiliorum  et  adiutor. 
Cum  autem  consilium  hoc  principes  cepissent,  co- 
gnationem  Superbi  nomenque  Tarquiniorum  et  me- 
moriam  regni  esse  tollendam,  quod  erat  utile,  patriae 
consulere,  id  erat  ita  honestum,  ut  etiam  ipsi  CoUa- 
tino  pldcere  deberet.  Itaque  utilitas  valuit  piopter 
honestatem,  sine  qua  ne  utihtas  quidem  esse  potuisset. 

At  in  eo  rege,  qui  urbem  condidit,  non  item; 

41  species  enim  utilitatis  animum  pepulit  eius;  cui  cum 
visum  esset  utihus  solum  quam  cum  altero  regnare, 
fratrem  interemit.  Omisit  hic  et  pietatem  et  huma- 
nitatem,  ut   id,  quod   utile  videbatur  neque  erat. 


*Romulus. 
^Remus. 

S08 


BOOK  III.  ix-x 

that  would  be  a  confesslon  that  they  are  criminally 
minded;  should  they  say  that  they  would  not  do 
so,  they  would  be  granting  that  all  things  in  and  of 
themselves  immoi*al  should  be  avoided. 

But  let  us  now  return  to  our  theme. 

X.  Many  cases  oftentimes  arise  to  perplex  our  Conflicts 
minds  with  a  specious  appearanee  of  expediency :  the  [f)'apparent 
question  raised  in  these  cases  is  not  whether  moral  Expediency  and 
rectitude  is  to  be  sacrificed  to  some  considerable  ^  ' 
advantage  (for  that  would  of  course  be  wrong),  but 
whether  the  apparent  advantage  can  be  secured 
without  moral  wrong.  When  Brutus  deposed  his 
colleague  Collatinus  from  the  consular  office,  his 
treatment  of  him  might  have  been  thought  unjust; 
for  Collatinus  had  been  his  associate,  and  had  helped 
him  with  word  and  deed  in  driving  out  the  royal 
family.  But  when  the  leading  men  of  the  state  had 
determined  that  all  the  kindred  of  Superbus  and  the 
very  name  of  the  Tarquins  and  every  reminder  of  the 
monarchy  should  be  obhterated,  then  the  course  that 
was  expedient — namely,  to  serve  the  country's  in- 
terests — was  so  pre-eminently  right,  that  it  was  even 
Collatinus's  own  duty  to  acquiesce  in  its  justice.  And 
so  expediency  gained  the  day  because  of  its  moral 
rightness;  for  without  moral  rectitude  there  could 
have  been  no  possible  expediency. 

Not  so  in  the  case  of  the  king*  who  founded  the 
city :  it  was  the  specious  appearance  of  expediency 
that  actuated  him;  and  when  he  decided  that  it 
was  more  expedient  for  him  to  reign  alone  than  to 
share  the  throne  with  another,  he  slew  his  brother.'' 
He  threw  to  the  winds  his  brotherly  affection  and  his 
human  feelings,  to  secure  what  seemed  to  him— but 
was  not — expedient ;  and  yet  in  defence  of  his  deed 

309 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
assequi   posset,  et   tamen  muri  causam^   opposuit, 
speciem  honestatis  nec  probabilem  nec  sane  idoneam. 
Peccavit  igitur,  pace  vel  Quirini  vel  Romuli  dixerim. 

42  Nec  tamen  nostrae  nobis  utilitates  omittendae 
sunt  aliisque  tradendae,  cum  iis'  ipsi  egeamus,  sed 
suae  cuique  utilitati,  quod  sine  alterius  iniuria  fiat, 
serviendum  est.  Scite  Chrysippus,  ut  multa:  "Qui 
stadium/'  inquit,  currit,  eniti  et  contendere  debet, 
quam  maxime  possit,  ut  vincat,  supplantare  eum, 
quicum^  certet,  aut  manu  depellere  nullo  modo 
debet;  sic  in  vita  sibi  quemque  petere,  quod  perti- 
neat  ad  usum,  non  iniquum  est,  alteri  deripere  ius 
non  est." 

43  Maxime  autem  perturbantur  officia  in  amicitiis, 
quibus  et  non  tribuere,  quod  recte  possis,  et  tribuere, 
quod  non  sit  aequum,  contra  officium  est.  Sed  huius 
generis  totius  breve  et  non  difficile  praeceptum  est. 
Quae  enim  videntur  utilia,  lionores,  divitiae,  volup- 
tates,  cetera  generis  eiusdem,  haec  amicitiae  num- 
quam  anteponenda  sunt.  At  neque  contra  rem  pu- 
bhcam  neque  contra  ius  iurandum  ac  fidem  amici 
causa  vir  bonus  faciet,  ne  si  iudex  quidem  erit  de 
ipso  amico;  ponit  enim  personam  amici,  cum  induit 
iudicis.     Tantum    dabit   amicitiae,  ut  veram  amici 

causam  c,  Edd. ;  causa  B  H  a  b. 
*its  Bt.,  Ed.,  Heine  ;  hh  B  H  a  b  ;  htjs  c. 
^qtiiaim  MSS.,  Bt.,  Heine  ;  quociim  Ed. 

al.e.,  whether  he  be  god  or  man. 
310 


BOOK  III.  X 

he  offered  the  excuse  about  his  wall — a  specious  show 
of  moral  rectitude,  neither  reasonable  nor  adequate 
at  all.  He  committed  a  crime,  therefore,  with  due 
respect  to  him  let  me  say  so,  be  he  Quirinus  or 
Romulus.* 

And  yet  we  are  not  required  to  sacrifice  our  own  (2)individuai 
iuterests  and  surrender  to  others  what  we  need  for  fnterelts^*^^' 
ourselves,  but  each  one  should  consider  his  own 
interests,  as  far  as  he  may  without  injury  to  his 
neighbour's.  When  a  man  enters  the  foot-race," 
says  Chrysippus  with  his  usual  aptness,  it  is  his 
duty  to  put  forth  all  his  strength  and  strive  with  all 
his  might  to  win ;  but  he  ought  never  with  his  foot 
to  trip,  or  with  his  hand  to  foul  a  competitor.  Thus 
in  the  stadium  of  life,  it  is  not  unfair  for  anyone  to 
seek  to  obtain  what  is  needful  for  his  own  advantage, 
but  he  has  no  right  to  wrest  it  from  his  neighbour." 

It  is  in  the  case  of  friendships,  however,  that  (3)  obUgations  to 
men's  conceptions  of  duty  are  most  confused;  for  it''''^"'!^^"'^'^"*^' 
is  a  breach  of  duty  either  to  fail  to  do  for  a  friend 
what  one  rightly  can  do,  or  to  do  for  him  what  is 
not  right.  But  for  our  guidance  in  all  such  cases  we 
have  a  rule  that  is  short  and  easy  to  master :  appa- 
rent  advantages — political  preferment,riches,  sensual 
pleasures,  and  the  like — should  never  be  preferred 
to  the   obligations   of  friendship.     But  an  upright  ' 

man  will  never  for  a  friend's  sake  do  anything  in 
violation  of  his  country's  interests  or  his  oath  or  his 
sacred  honour,  not  even  if  he  sits  as  judge  in  a 
friend's  case;  for  he  lays  aside  the  role  of  friend 
when  he  assumes  that  of  judge.  Only  so  far  will  he 
make  concessions  to  friendship,  that  he  will  prefer 
his  friend's  side  to  be  the  juster  one  and  that  he  will 
set  the  time  for  presenting  his  case,  as  far  as  the 

311 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
causam  esse  malit,  ut  oraudae  litis  tempus,  quoad 

44  per  leges  liceat,  accommodet.  Cum  vero  iurato 
sententia  dicenda  erit/  meminerit  deum  se  adhibere  ^ 
testem,  id  est,  ut  ego  arbitror,  mentem  suam,  qua 
nihil  homini  dedit  deus  ipse  divinius.  Itaque  prae- 
clarum  a  maioribus  accepimus  morem  rogandi  iudicis, 
si  eum  teneremus,  quae  salva  fide  facere  possit. 
Haec  rogatio  ad  ea  pertinet,  quae  paulo  ante  dixi 
honeste  amico  a  iudice  posse  concedi ;  nam  si  omnia 
facienda  sint,  quae  amici  velint,  non  amicitiae  tales, 

45  sed  coniurationes  putandae  sint.     Loquor  autem  de 
communibus  amicitiis;  nam  in  sapientibus  viris  per 
fectisque  nihil  potest  esse  tale. 

Damonem  et  Phintiam  Pythagoreos  ferunt  hoc 
animo  inter  se  fuisse,  ut,  cum  eorum  alteri  Dionysius 
tyrannus  diem  necis  destinavisset  et  is,  qui  morti 
addictus  esset,  paucos  sibi  dies  commendandorum 
suorum  causa  postulavisset,  vas  factus  sit'  alter  eius 
sistendi,  ut,  si  ille  non  revertisset,  moriendum  esset 
ipsi.  Qui  cum  ad  diem  se  recepisset,  admiratus 
eorum  fidem  tyrannus  petivit,  ut  se  ad  amicitiam 
tertium  ascriberent. 

46  Cum  igitur  id,  quod  utile  videtur  in  amicitia,  cum 
eo,  quod  honestum  est,  comparatur,  iaceat  utilitatis 

'mV  Ed.,  Bt.«,  Heine  ;  sit  MSS.;  est  Bt.' 
^adhibere  B  H  a,  Bt.,  Ed. ;  habere  b  c,  Lact.,  Miiiler. 
^sii  Maiiubius,  Edd.;  est  MSS.,  Nonius. 
.SI2 


BOOK  III.  X 

laws  will  allow,  to  suit   his   friend's   convenience. 

44  But  when  he  comes  to  pronounce  the  verdict  under 
oath,  he  should  remember  that  he  has  God  as  his 
witness — that  is,  as  I  understand  it,  his  own  con- 
science,  than  which  God  himself  has  bestowed  upon 
man  nothing  more  divine.  From  this  point  of  view 
it  is  a  fine  custom  that  we  have  inherited  from  our 
forefathers  (if  we  were  only  true  to  it  now)  to  appeal 
to  the  juror  with  this  formula —  to  do  what  he  can 
consistently  with  his  sacred  honour."  This  form  of 
appeal  is  in  keeping  with  what  I  said  a  moment  ago 
would  be  morally  right  for  a  judge  to  concede  to  a 
friend.  For  supposing  that  we  were  bound  to  do 
everything  that  our  friends  desired,  such  relations 
would   have  to  be  accounted  not   friendships  but 

45  conspiracies.  But  I  am  speaking  here  of  ordinary 
friendships ;  for  among  men  who  are  ideally  wise 
and  perfect  such  situations  cannot  arise. 

They  say  that  Damon  and  Phintias,  of  the  Py  tha-  Damon  and 
gorean  schoolj  enjoyed  such  ideally  perfect  friend-  '^^' 
ship,  that  when  the  tyrant  Dionysius  had  appointed  a 
day  for  the  execution  of  one  of  them,  and  the  one 
who  had  been  condemned  to  death  requested  a  few 
days'  respite  for  the  purpose  of  putting  his  loved 
ones  in  the  care  of  friends,  the  other  became  surety 
for  his  appearance,  with  the  understanding  that  it 
his  friend  did  not  return,  he  himself  should  be  put 
to  death.  And  when  the  friend  returned  on  the 
day  appointed,  the  tyrant  in  admiration  for  their 
faithfulness  begged  that  they  would  enrol  him  as  a 
third  partner  in  their  friendship. 

46  Well  then,  when  we  are  weighing  what  seems  to  Ruies  of 
be  expedient  in  friendship  against  what  is  morally  precedence. 
right,  let  apparent  expediency  be  disregarded  and 

313 


CICEllO  DE  OFFICIIS 
species,  valeat   honestas;    cum   autem   in  amicitia, 
quae  honesta  non  sunt,  postulabuntur,  religio  et  fides 
anteponatur  amicitiae.     Sic  habebitur  is,  quem  ex- 
quirimus,  dilectus  officii. 

XI.  Sed  utilitatis  specie  in  re  publica  saepissime 
peccatur,  ut  in  Corinthi  disturbatione  nostri ;  durius 
etiam  Athenienses,  qui  sciverunt,  ut  Aeginetis,  qui 
classe  valebant,  pollices  praeciderentur.  Hoc  visum 
est  utile ;  nimis  enim  imminebat  propter  propinqui- 
tatem  Aegina  Piraeo.  Sed  nihil,  quod  crudele,  utile ; 
est  enim  hominum  naturae,  quam  sequi  debemus, 
47  maxime  inimica  crudelitas.  Male  etiam,  qui  pere- 
grinos  urbibus  uti  prohibent  eosque  exterminant,  ut 
Pennus  apud  patres  nostros,  Papius  nuper.  Nam 
esse  pro  cive,  qui  civis  non  sit,  rectum  est  non  licere ; 
quam  legem  tulerunt  sapientissimi  consules  Crassus 
et  Scaevola;  usu  vero  urbis  prohibere  peregrinos 
sane  inhumanum  est. 

Illa  praeclara,  in  quibus  publicae  utilitatis  species 
prae  honestate  contemnitur.    Plena  exemplorum  est 

nostra  res  publica  cum  saepe,  tum  maxime   bello 
314 


BOOK  III.  x-xi 

moral  rectitude  prevail;  and  when  in  friendship 
requests  are  submitted  that  are  not  morally  right,  let 
conscience  and  scrupulous  regard  for  the  right  take 
precedence  of  the  obligations  of  friendship.  In  this 
way  we  shall  arrive  at  a  proper  choice  between  con- 
flicting  duties — the  subject  of  this  part  of  our  inves- 
tigation. 

XI.  Through  a  specious  appearance  of  expediency  (4)  apparent 
wrong  is  very  often  committed  in  transactions  be-  P^pg^^^ielicy  anrf 
tween  state  and  state,  as  by  our  own  country  in  the  duty  to 
destruction  of  Corinth.  A  more  cruel  wrong  was  "™*"'  ^' 
perpetrated  by  the  Athenians  in  decreeing  that  the 
Aeginetans,  whose  strength  lay  in  their  navy,  should 
have  their  thumbs  cut  off.  This  seemed  to  be 
expedient ;  for  Aegina  was  too  grave  a  menace,  as  it 
was  close  to  the  Piraeus.  But  no  cruelty  can  be 
expedient;  for  cruelty  is  most  abhorrent  to  human 
47  nature,  whose  leadings  we  ought  to  follow.  They, 
too,  do  wrong  who  would  debar  foreigners  from 
enjoying  the  advantages  of  their  city  and  would 
exclude  them  from  its  borders,  as  was  done  by 
Pennus  in  the  time  of  our  fathers,  and  in  recent 
times  by  Papius.  It  may  not  be  right,  of  course, 
for  one  who  is  not  a  citizen  to  exercise  the  rights  and 
privileges  of  citizenship ;  and  the  law  on  this  point 
was  secured  by  two  of  our  wisest  consuls,  Crassus  and 
Scaevola.  Still,  to  debar  foreigners  from  enjoying 
the  advantages  of  the  city  is  altogether  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  humanity. 

There  are  splendid  examples  in  history  where  the  Morairight 
apparent  expediency  of  the  state  has  been  set  at  apparent'^''^'" 
naught  out  of  regard  for  moral  rectitude.     Our  own  expediency 
country  has  many  instances  to  offer  throughout  her 
history,  and  especially  in  the  Second  Punic  War 

315 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Punico  secundo;  quae  Cannensi  calamitate  accepta 
maiores  animos  habuit  quam  umquam  rebus  secundis ; 
nulla  timoris  significatio,  nulla  mentio  pacis.  Tanta 
vis  est  honesti,  ut  speciem  utilitatis  obscuret. 

48  Athenienses  cum  Persarum  impetum  nullo  modo 
possent  sustinere  statuerentque,  ut  urbe  rehcta 
coniugibus  et  liberis  Troezene  depositis  naves  con- 
scenderent  libertatemque  Graeciae  classe  defende- 
rent,  Cyrsilum  quendam  suadentem,  ut  in  urbe 
manerent  Xerxemque^  reciperent,  lapidibus  obrue- 
nmt.  Atqui  ^  ille  utiUtatem  sequi  videbatur ;  sed  ea 
nulla  erat  repugnante  honestate. 

49  Themistocles  post  victoriam  eius  belli,  quod  cum 
Persis  fuit,  dixit  in  contione  se  habere  consiHum  rei 
publicae  salutare,  sed  id  sciri  non  opus  esse;  postu- 
lavit,  ut  aUquem  populus  daret,  quicum  communi- 
caret;  datus  est  Aristides;  huic  iUe,  classem  Lace- 
daemoniorum,  <juae  subducta  esset  ad  Gytheum, 
clam  incendi  posse,  quo  facto  frangi  Lacedaemonio- 
rum  opes  necesse  esset.  Quod  Aristides  cum  audis- 
set,  in  contionem  magna  exspectatione  venit  dixitque 
perutile  esse  consiUum,  quod  Themistocles  afferret, 
sed  minime  honestum.  Itaque  Athenienses,  quod 
honestum  non  esset,  id  ne  utile  quidem  putaverunt 
totamque   eam   rem,    quam    ne  audierant   quidem, 

'  Xerxemque  BH  a  b,  Bt.,  Heine  ;  Xersenque  c  ;  Xersemque 
Nonius,  Ed. 
"^Atqui  Victorius,  Fl.,  Bt.»,  Ed.;  Atque  MSS.,  Bt.' 

316 


BOOK  III.  xi 

when  news  came  of  the  disaster  at  Cannae,  Rome  dis- 
played  a  loftier  courage  than  ever  slie  did  in  success ; 
never  a  trace  of  faint-heartedness,  never  a  mention 
of  making  terms.  The  influence  of  moral  right  is  so 
potentj  that  it  eclipses  the  specious  appearance  of 
expediency. 

When  the  Athenians  could  in  no  way  stem  the 
tide  of  the  Persian  invasion  and  determined  to 
abandon  their  city,  bestow  their  wives  and  children 
in  safety  at  Troezen,  embark  upon  their  ships,  and 
fight  on  the  sea  for  the  freedom  of  Greece,  a  man 
named  Cyrsilus  proposed  that  they  should  stay  at 
home  and  open  the  gates  of  their  city  to  Xerxes. 
They  stoned  him  to  death  for  it.  And  yet  he  was 
working  for  what  he  thought  was  expediency ;  but 
it  was  not — not  at  all,  for  it  clashed  with  moral 
rectitude. 

After  the  victorious  close  of  that  war  with  Persia, 
Themistocles  announced  in  the  Assembly  that  he 
had  a  plan  for  the  welfare  of  the  state,  but  that  it 
was  not  politic  to  let  it  be  generally  known.  He 
requested  the  people  to  appoint  some  one  with  whom 
he  might  discuss  it.  They  appointed  Aristides. 
Themistocles  confided  to  him  that  the  Spartan  fleet, 
which  had  been  hauled  up  on  shore  at  Gytheum, 
could  be  secretly  set  on  fire ;  this  done,  the  Spartan 
power  would  inevitably  be  crushed.  When  Aristides 
heard  the  plan,  he  came  into  the  Assembly  amid  the 
eager  expectation  of  all  and  reported  that  the  plan 
proposed  by  Themistocles  was  in  the  highest  degree 
expedient,  but  anything  but  morally  right.  The 
result  was  that  the  Athenians  concluded  that  what 
was  not  morally  right  was  likewise  not  expedient, 
and  at  the  instance  of  Aristides  they  rejected  the 

317 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

auctore  Aristide  repudiaverunt.  Melius  hi  quam 
nos,  qui  piratas  immunes,  socios  vectigales  habemus. 
XII.  Maneat  ergo,  quod  turpe  sit^  id  numquam  essc 
utile,  ne  tum  quidem,  cum  id,  quod  esse  utile  putes, 
adipiscare ;  hoc  enim  ipsum,  utile  putare,  quod  turpe 
§  40  50  sit,  calamitosum  est.  Sed  incidunt,  ut  supra  dixi, 
saepe  causae,  cum  repugnare  utilitas  honestati  videa- 
tur,  ut  animadvertendum  sit,  repugnetne  plane  an 
possit  cum  honestate  coniungi.  Eius  generis  hae 
sunt  quaestiones:  si  exempli  gratia  vir  bonus  Ale- 
xandrea  Rhodum  magnum  frumenti  numerum  ad- 
vexerit  in  Rhodiorum  inopia  et  fame  summaque 
annonae  caritate,  si  idem  sciat  complures  merca- 
tores  Alexandrea  solvisse  navesque  in  cursu  frumento 
onustas  petentes  Rhodum  viderit,  dicturusne  sit  id 
Rhodiis  an  silentio  suum  quam  plurimo  venditurus. 
Sapientem  et  bonum  virum  fingimus;  de  eius  de- 
Uberatione  et  consultatione  quaerimus,  qui  celaturus 
Rhodios  non  sit,  si  id  turpe  iudicet,  sed  dubitet,  an 
turpe  non  sit. 
51  In  huius  modi  causis  aliud  Diogeni  Babylonio 
videri  solet,  magno  et  gravi  Stoico,  ahud  Antipatro, 
discipulo  eius,  homini  acutissimo.  Antipatro  omnia 
patefacienda,  ut   ne   quid   omnino,  quod   venditor 

a  The  Cilician  pirates  had  been  crushed  by  Pompey  and 
settled  at  Soli  (Pompeiopolis).  They  gathered  strength 
again  during  the  distractions  of  the  civil  wars,  and  Antony 
is  even  said  to  have  sought  their  aid  in  the  war  against 
Brutus  and  Cassius. 

Marseilles  and  King  Deiotarus  of  Armeniahad  supported 
Pompey   and   in   consequence    were    made    tributary   by 
Caesar's  party. 
318 


BOOK  III.  xi-xii 

whole  proposition  without  even  listening  to  it.  Their 
attitude  was  better  than  ours ;  for  we  let  pirates  go 
scot  free,  while  we  make  our  allies  pay  tribute.*  V 

XII.  Let  it  be  set  down  as  an  established  prin- 
ciple,  then,  that  what  is  morally  wrong  can  never  be 
expedient — not  even  when  one  secures  by  means  of 
it  that  which  one  thinks  expedient;  for  the  mere 
act  of  thinking  a  course  expedient,  when  it  is  morally 

50  wrong,  is  demorahzing.     But,  as  I  said  above,  cases  Expediency 
often  arise  in  which  expediency  may  seem  to  clash  ^^^^^  rectitude 
with  moral  rectitude ;  and  so  we  should  examine  in  business  reia- 
carefully  and  see  whether  their  conflict  is  inevitable  *'°°*' 

or  whether  they  may  be  reconciled.  The  following 
are  problems  of  this  sort:  suppose,  for  example,  a 
time  of  dearth  and  famine  at  Rhodes,  with  provisions 
at  fabulous  prices ;  and  suppose  that  an  honest  man 
has  imported  a  large  cargo  of  grain  from  Alexandria 
and  that  to  his  certain  knowledge  also  several  other 
importers  have  set  sail  from  Alexandria,  and  that  on 
the  voyage  he  has  sighted  their  vessels  laden  with 
grain  and  bound  for  Rhodes ;  is  he  to  report  the  fact 
to  the  Rhodians  or  is  he  to  keep  his  own  counsel 
and  sell  his  own  stock  at  the  highest  market  price  ? 
I  am  assuming  the  case  of  a  virtuous,  upright  man, 
and  I  am  raising  the  question  how  a  man  would 
think  and  reason  who  would  not  conceal  the  facts 
from  the  Rhodians  if  he  thought  that  it  was  immoral 
to  do  so,  but  who  might  be  in  doubt  whether  such 
silence  would  really  be  immoral. 

5 1  In  deciding  cases  of  this  kind  Diogenes  of  Baby-  Diogenes 
lonia,  a  great  and  highly  esteemed  Stoic,  consistently  Antipater. 
holds  one  view ;  his  pupil  Antipater,  a  most  profound 
scholar,  holds  artother.     According  to  Antipater  all 

the  facts  should  be  disclosed,  that  the  buyer  may 

319 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

norit,  emptor  ignoret,  Diogeni  venditorem,  quatenus 
iure  civili  constitutum  sit,  dicere  vitia  oportere, 
cetera  sine  iiisidiis  agere  et,  quoniam  vendat,  velle 
qnam  optime  vendere. 

Advexi,  exposui,  vendo  meum  non  pluris  quam 
ceteri,  fortasse  etiam  minoris,  cum  maior  est  copia. 
Cui  fit  iniuria?" 

52  Exoritur  Antipatri  ratio  ex  altera  parte :  Quid 
ais?  tu  cum  hominibus  consulere  debeas  et  servire 
humanae  societati  eaque  lege  natus  sis  et  ea  habeas 
principia  naturae,  quibus  parere  et  quae  sequi  debeas, 
ut  utilitas  tua  communis  sit  utilitas  vicissimque  com- 
munis  utilitas  tua  sit,  celabis  homines,  quid  iis  adsit 
commoditatis  et  copiae?" 

Respondebit  Diogenes  fortasse  sic:  Aliud  est 
celare,  aliud  tacere ;  neque  ego  nunc  te  celo,  si  tibi 
non  dico,  quae  natura  deorum  sit,  qui  sit  finis  bono- 
rum,  quae  tibi  plus  prodessent  cognita  quam  tritici 
viUtas^ ;  sed  non,  quicquid  tibi  audire  utile  est,  idem^ 
mihi  dicere  necesse  est." 

53  "immo  vero,"  inquiet  ille,  *  necesse  est,'  siqui- 

*  vilitas  a,  Edd. ;  utilitas,  B  H  b  c. 
«  idem  B  H  a  b  ;  «V/  c,  Bt. 

*  immo  .  .  .  est  c,  Ed.,  Heine;  immo  vero  necesse  est  p; 
immo  vero  [inquiet  il/e]  necesse  est  Bt. 

320 


BOOK  III.  xii 

not  be  uninformed  of  any  detail  that  the  seller 
knows;  according  to  Diogenes  the  seller  shoukl 
declare  any  defects  in  his  wares,  in  so  far  as  such  a 
course  is  prescribed  by  tlie  common  law  of  the  land  ; 
but  for  the  rest,  since  he  has  goods  to  sell,  he  may 
try  to  sell  them  to  the  best  possible  advantage,  pro- 
vided  he  is  guilty  of  no  misrepresentation. 

I  have  imported  my  stock,"  Diogenes's  mer- 
chant  will  say;  I  have  offered  it  for  sale;  I  sell 
at  a  price  no  higher  than  my  competitors — perhaps 
even  lower,  when  the  market  is  overstocked.  Who 
is  wronged?" 

What  say  you  ? "  comes  Antipater's  argument  on 
the  other  side ;  it  is  your  dutjt  to  consider  the  in- 
terests  of  your  fellow-men  and  to  serve  society ;  you 
were  brought  into  the  world  under  these  conditions 
and  have  these  inbornprincipleswhich  you  are  in  duty 
bound  to  obey  and  follow,  that  your  interest  shall  be 
the  interest  of  the  community  and  conversely  that 
the  interest  of  the  community  shall  be  your  interest 
as  well;  will  you,  in  view  of  all  these  facts,  conceal  is  conceaiment 
from  your  fellow-men  what  relief  in  plenteous  sup-  i*mmorai  ? 
plies  is  close  at  hand  for  them?" 

It  is  one  thing  to  conceal/'  Diogenes  will  ptr- 
haps  reply ;  not  to  reveal  is  quite  a  different  thing. 
At  this  present  moment  I  am  not  concealing  from 
you,  even  if  I  am  not  revealing  to  you,  the  nature  of 
the  gods  or  the  highest  good ;  and  to  know  these 
secrets  would  be  of  more  advantage  to  you  than  to 
know  that  the  price  of  wheat  was  down.  But  I  am 
under  no  obligation  to  tell  you  everything  that  it 
may  be  to  your  interest  to  be  told." 

Yea,"  Antipater  will  say,  but  you  are,  as  you 
must  admit,  if  you  will  only  bethink  you  of  the 

Y  321 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
dem  meministi  esse  inter  homines  natura  coniun- 
ctam  societatem." 

Memini/'  inquiet  ille;  '  sed  num  ista  societas 
talis  estj  ut  nihil  suum  cuiusque  sit  ?  Quod  si  ita 
est,  ne  vendendum  quidem  quicquam  est,  sed  do- 
nandum." 

XI 11.  Vides  in  hac  tota  disceptatione  non  illud 
dici :  Quamvis  hoc  turpe  sit^  tamen,  quoniam  ex- 
pedit,  faciam,"  sed  ita  expedire,  ut  turpe  non  sit,  ex 
altera  autem  parte,  ea  re,  quia  turpe  sit,  non  esse 
faciendum. 

54  Vendat  aedes  vir  bonus  propter  aliqua  vitia,  quae 
ipse  norit,  ceteri  ignorent,  pestilentes  sint  et  habe- 
antur  salubres,  ignoretur  in  omnibus  cubiculis  appa- 
rere  serpentes,  male  materiatae  sint^  ruinosae,  sed 
hoc  praeter  dominum  nemo  sciat;  quaero,  si  liaec 
emptoribus  venditor  non  dixerit  aedesque  vendiderit 
pluris  multo,  quam  se  venditurum  putarit,  num  id 
iniuste  aut  improbe  fecerit. 

55  Ille  vero,"  inquit  Antipater;  "quid  est  enim 
aliud  erranti  viam  non  monstrare,  quod  Athenis  ex- 
secrationibus  publicis  sanctum  est,  si  hoc  non  est, 
cmptorem  pati  ruere  et  per  errorem  in  maximam 
fraudem  incurrere?     Plus  etiam  est  quam  viam  non 

'  sint  Bt.S  Ed.,  Heine  ;  not  in  MSS.,  Bt». 
S22 


BOOK  III.  xii-xiii 

bonds  of  fellowship  forged  by  nature  and  existing 
between  man  and  man." 

I  do  not  forget  them/'  the  other  will  reply; 
but  do  you  mean  to  say  that  those  bonds  of  fellow- 
ship  are  such  that  tliere  is  no  such  thing  as  private 
property?  If  that  is  the  case,  we  should  not 
sell  anything  at  all,  but  freely  give  everything 
away." 

XIII.  In  this  whole  discussion^  you  see,  no  one 
says  However  wrong  morally  this  or  that  may  be, 
stillj  since  it  is  expedient,  I  will  do  it";  but  the  one 
side  asserts  that  a  given  act  is  expedient,  without 
being  morally  wrong,  while  the  other  insists  that 
the  act  should  not  be  done,  because  it  is  morally 
wrong. 

Suppose  again  that  an  honest  man  is  ofFering  a  a  vendor's  duty 
house  for  sale  on  account  of  certain  undesirable 
features  of  which  he  himself  is  aware  but  which 
nobody  else  knows;  suppose  it  is  unsanitary^  but 
has  the  reputation  of  being  healthful ;  suppose  it  is 
not  generally  known  that  vermin  are  to  be  found  in 
all  the  bedrooms ;  suppose,  finally,  that  it  is  built  of 
unsound  timber  and  hkely  to  collapse,  but  that  no 
one  knows  about  it  except  the  owner ;  if  the  vendor 
does  not  tell  the  purchaser  these  facts  but  sells  him 
the  house  for  far  more  than  he  could  reasonably 
have  expected  to  get  for  it,  I  ask  whether  his  trans- 
action  is  unjust  or  dishonourable. 

Yes,"  says  Antipater,  it  is ;  for  to  allow  a  pur- 
chaser  to  be  hasty  in  closing  a  deal  and  through 
mistaken  judgment  to  incur  a  very  serious  loss,  if 
this  is  not  refusing  to  set  a  man  right  when  he  has 
lost  his  way '  (a  crime  which  at  Athens  is  prohibited 
on  pain  of  pui)lic  execration),  what  is?  It  is  even 
v2  323 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

monstrare ;  nam  est  scientem  in  errorem  alterum 
inducere." 
(55)  Diogenes  contra :  "  Num  te  emere  coegit,  qui  ne 
hortatus  quidera  est  ?  Ille,  quod  non  placebat,  pro- 
scripsit,  tu,  quod  placebat,  emisti.  Quodsi,  qui  pro- 
scribunt  villam  bonam  beneque  aedificatam,  non 
existimantur  fefellisse,  etiamsi  illa  nec  bona  est  nec 
aedificata  ratione,  multo  minus,  qui  domum  non 
laudarunt.  Ubi  enim  iudicium  emptoris  est,  ibi 
fraus  venditoris  quae  potest  esse  ?  Sin  autem  di- 
ctum  non  omne  praestandum  est,  quod  dictum  non 
est,  id  praestandum  putas  ?  Quid  vero  est  stultius 
quam  venditorem  eius  rei,  quam  vendat,  vitia  nar- 
rare  ?  quid  autem  tam  absurdum,  quam  si  domini 
iussu  ita  praeco  praedicet :  *  Domum  pestilentem 
vendo ' ?  " 

56  Sic  ergo  in  quibusdam  causis  dubiis  ex  altera  parte 
defenditur  lionestas,  ex  altera  ita  de  utilitate  dicitur, 
ut  id,  quod  utile  videatur,  non  modo  facere  honestum 
sit,  sed  etiam  non  facere  turpe.  Haec  est  illa,  quae 
videturutiliumfiericum  honestis  saepe  dissensio.  Quae 
diiudicanda  sunt  ^ ;  non  enim,  ut  quaereremus,  ex- 

57  posuimus,  sed  ut  expHcaremus.  Non  igitur  videtui 
nec  frumentarius  ille  Rhodios^  nec  hic  aedium 
venditor  celare  emptores  debuisse.  Neque  enim  id 
est  celare,  quicquid  reticeas,  sed  cum,  quod  tu  scias, 

*  sunt  MSS.,  Bt.^  Heine.  Ed.;  es/ [dissensio]  Unger,  Bt.« 

•  Rhodios  c,  Edd. ;  Rhodius  B  H  a  b. 

»«4 


BOOK  III.  xiii 

worse  than  refusing  to  set  a  man  on  his  way :  it  is 
dehberately  leading  a  man  astray." 

"Can  you  say,"  answers  Diogenes,-'' that  he  com- 
pelled  you  to  purchase,  when  he  did  not  even  advise 
it  ?  He  advei*tised  for  sale  what  he  did  not  Hke ; 
you  bought  what  you  did  hke.  If  people  are  not 
considered  guilty  of  swindhng  when  they  place  upon 
their  placards  For  Sale  :  A  Fine  Villa,  Well  Built, 
even  when  it  is  neither  good  nor  properly  built,  still 
less  guilty  are  they  who  say  nothing  in  praise  of 
their  house.  For  where  the  purchaser  may  exercise 
his  own  judgment,  what  fraud  can  there  be  on  the 
part  of  the  vendor.^  But  if,  again,  not  all  that  is 
expressly  stated  has  to  be  made  good,  do  you  think 
a  man  is  bound  to  make  good  what  has  not  been 
said  ?  What,  pray,  would  be  more  stupid  than  for  a 
vendor  to  recount  all  the  faults  in  the  article  he  is 
ofFering  for  sale  ?  And  what  would  be  so  absurd  as 
for  an  auctioneer  to  cry,  at  the  owner's  bidding, 
'  Here  is  an  unsanitary  house  for  sale  '  ?  " 

In  this  way,  then,  in  certain  doubtful  cases  moral 
rectitude  is  defended  on  the  one  side,  while  on  the 
other  side  the  case  of  expediency  is  so  presented  as 
to  make  it  appear  not  only  morally  right  to  do  what 
seems  expedient,  but  even  morally  wrong  not  to  do 
it.  This  is  the  contradiction  that  seems  often  to 
arise  between  the  expedient  and  the  morally  right, 
But  I  must  give  my  decision  in  these  two  cases ;  for  cicero's  decisbn 
I  did  not  propound  them  merely  to  raise  the  ques-  '"  '^*  "^^^**- 
tions,  but  to  offer  a  solution.  I  think,  then,  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  that  grain-dealer  not  to  keep  back 
the  facts  from  the  Rhodians,  and  of  this  vendor  of 
the  house  to  deal  in  the  same  way  with  his  purchaser. 
The  fact  is  that  merely  holding  one's  peace  about  a 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
id  ignorare  emolumenti  tui  causa  velis  eos,  quorum 
intersit  id  scire.  Hoc  autem  celandi  genus  quale  sit 
et  cuius  hominis,  quis  non  videt?  Certe  non  aperti, 
non  simplicis,  non  ingenui,  non  iusti,  non  viri  boni, 
versuti  potius,  obscuri,  astuti,  fallacis,  malitiosi, 
callidi,  veteratoris,  vafri.  Haec  tot  et  alia  plura 
nonne  inutile  est  vitiorum  subire  nomina  ? 
58  XIV.  Quodsi  vituperandi,  qui  reticuerunt,  quid  de 
iis  existimandum  est,  qui  orationis  vanitatem  adhi- 
buerunt?  C.  Canius,  eques  Romanus,  nec  infacetus 
et  satis  litteratus,  cum  se  Syracusas  otiandi,  ut  ipse 
dicere  solebat,  non  negotiandi  causa  contulisset, 
dictitabat^  se  hortulos  aliquos  emere  velle,  quo  invi- 
tare  amicos  et  ubi  se  oblectare  sine  interpellatoribus 
posset.  Quod  cum  percrebruisset,  Pythius  ei  qui- 
dam,  qui  argentariam  faceret  Syracusis,  venales 
quidem  se  hortos  non  habere,  sed  licere  uti  Canio, 
si  vellet,  ut  suis,  et  simul  ad  cenam  hominem  in 
hortos  invitavit  in  posterum  diem.  Cum  ille  pro- 
misisset,  tum  Pythius,  qui  esset  ut  argentarius  apud 
omnes  ordines  gratiosus,  piscatores  ad  se  convocavit 
et  ab  iis  petivit,  ut  ante  suos  hortulos  postridie  pi- 
scarentur,  dixitque,  quid  eos  facere  vellet.  Ad  cenam 
tempori^  venit  Canius;  opipare  a  Pythio  apparatum 
convivium,  cumbarum  ante  oculos  multitudo ;  pro  se 


^dictitabat  c,  Edd. ;  dictabat  B  H  a  b. 
*tempori  B  H  b,  Bt.',  Ed. ;  tcmpore  a  c ;  temperi  Fl.,  Bt.', 
Heine. 
326 


BOOK  II I.  xiii-xiv 

thing  does  not  constitute  concealment,  but  conceal- 
ment  consists  in  trying  for  your  own  profit  to  keep 
others  from  finding  out  something  that  you  know, 
when  it  is  for  their  interest  to  know  it.  And  who 
fails  to  discern  what  manner  of  concealment  that  is 
and  what  sort  of  person  would  be  guilty  of  it  ?  At 
all  events  he  would  be  no  candid  or  sincere  or 
straightforward  or  upright  or  honest  man,  but  rather 
one  who  is  shifty,  sly,  artful,  shrewd,  underhand, 
cunning,  one  grown  old  in  fraud  and  subtlety.  Is  it 
not  inexpedient  to  subject  oneself  to  all  these  terms 
of  reproach  and  many  more  besides? 

XIV.  If,  then,  they  are  to  be  blamed  who  suppress  Conceaiment  oi 
the  truth,  what  are  we  to  think  of  those  who  actu-  *^"'^  „, 
ally  state  what  is  false?     Gaius  Canius,  a   Roman  misrepresenta- 

11-1.  11  ■.  1    t'on  *"" 

knight,  a  man  of  considerable  wit  and  literary  cul-  faisehood. 

ture,  once  went  to  Syracuse  for  a  vacation,  as  he 
himself  used  to  say,  and  not  for  business.  He  gave 
out  that  he  had  a  mind  to  purchase  a  little  country- 
seat,  where  he  could  invite  his  friends  and  enjoy 
himself,  uninterrupted  by  troublesome  visitors. 
When  this  fact  was  spread  abroad,  one  Pythius,  a 
banker  of  Syracuse,  informed  him  that  he  had  such 
an  estate;  that  it  was  not  for  sale,  however,  but 
Canius  might  make  himself  at  home  there,  if  he 
pleased;  and  at  the  same  time  he  invited  him  to  the 
estate  to  dinner  next  day.  Canius  accepted.  Then 
Pythius,  who,  as  might  be  expected  of  a  money- 
lender,  could  command  favours  of  all  classes,  called 
the  fishermen  together  and  asked  them  to  do  their 
fishing  the  next  day  out  in  front  of  his  villa,  and 
told  them  what  he  wished  them  to  do.  Canius  came 
to  dinner  at  the  appointed  hour;  Pythius  had  a 
sumptuous  banquet  prepared;   there  was  a  whole  | 

327 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
quisque,  quod  ceperat,  afFerebat,  ante  pedes  Pythi 
pisces  abiciebantur. 

59  Tum  Canius:      Quaeso/'   inquit,   "quid  est  hoc, 
Pythi?  tantumne  piscium?  tantumne  cumbarum?" 

Et  ille:  Quid  mirum?"  inquit,  hoc  loco  est 
Syracusis  quicquid  est  piscium,  hic  aquatio,  hac  villa 
isti  carere  non  possunt." 

Incensus  Canius  cupiditate  contendit  a  Pythio,  ut 
venderet ;  gravate  ille  primo ;  quid  multa  ?  impetrat. 
Emit  homo  cupidus  et  locuples  tanti,  quanti  Pythius 
voluit,  et  emit  instructos;  nomina  facit,  negotium 
conficit.  Invitat  Canius  postridie  familiares  suos, 
venit  ipse  mature;  scalmum  nullum  videt,  quaerit 
ex  proximo  vicino,  num  feriae  quaedam  piscatorum 
essentj  quod  eos  nullos  videret. 

Nullae,  quod  sciam,"  inquit;      sed  hic  piscari 
nulli  solent;  itaque  heri  mirabar,  quid  accidisset." 

60  Stomachari  Canius;  sed  quid  faceret?  nondum 
enim  C.  AquiHus,  collega  et  familiaris  meus,  protu- 
lerat  de  dolo  malo  formulas ;  in  quibus  ipsis,  cum  ex 
eo  quaereretur,^  quid  esset  dolus  malus,  respondebat : 
cum  esset  aliud  simulatum,  aliud  actum.  Hoc  quidem 
sane  luculente  ut  ab  liomine  perito  definiendi.  Ergo 
et  Pythius  et  omnes  aliud  agentes,  aliud  simulantes 

^quaereretur  Edd.,  with  authority ;  guaererem  MSS. 
328 


BOOK  III.  xiv 

fleet  ot  boats  before  their  eyes;  each  fisherman 
brduglit  in  in  turn  the  cateh  that  he  had  made ;  and 
the  fishes  were  deposited  at  the  feet  of  Pythius. 

Pray,  Pythius,"  said  Canius  thereupon,  what 
does  this  mean? — all  these  fish? — all  these  boats?" 
No  wonder,"  answered  Pythius;  this  is  where 
all  the  fish  in  Syracuse  are ;  here  is  where  the  fresh 
water  comes  from ;  the  fishermen  cannot  get  along 
without  this  estate." 

Inflamed  with  desire  for  it,  Canius  insisted  upon 
Pythius's  selling  it  to  him.  At  first  he  demurred. 
To  make  a  long  story  short,  Canius  gained  his  point. 
The  man  was  rich,  and,  in  his  desire  to  own  the 
country-seat,  he  paid  for  it  all  that  Pythius  asked ; 
and  he  bought  the  entire  equipment,  too,  Pythius 
entered  the  amount  upon  his  ledger  and  completed 
the  transfer.  The  next  day  Canius  invited  his 
friends ;  he  came  early  himself.  Not  so  much  as  a 
thole-pin  was  in  sight.  He  asked  his  next-door 
neighbour  whether  it  was  a  fisherman's  holiday,  for 
not  a  sign  of  them  did  he  see. 

Not  so  far  as  I  know,"  said  he ;  but  none  are  in 
the  habit  of  fishing  here.  And  so  I  could  not  make 
out  what  was  the  matter  yesterday." 

Canius  was  furious;  but  what  could  he  do?  For  crfminalfraud 
not  yet  had  my  colleague  and  friend,  Gaius  Aquilius, 
introduced  the  established  forms  to  apply  to  criminal 
fraud.  When  asked  what  he  meant  by  "criminal 
fraud,"  as  specified  in  these  forms,  he  would  reply: 
Pretending  one  thing  and  practising  another" — a 
very  felicitous  definition,  as  one  might  expect  from 
an  expert  in  making  them.  Pythius,  therefore,  and 
all  others  who  do  one  tliing  while  they  pretend 
<inother  are  faithless,  dishonest,  and  unprincipled 

329 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
perfidi,  improbi,  malitiosi.    Nullum  igitur  eorum  fa- 
ctum  potest  utile  esse,  cum  sit  tot  vitiis  inquinatum. 

61  XV.  Quodsi  Aquiliana  definitio  vera  est,  ex  omni 
vita  simulatio  dissimulatioque  tollenda  est.  Ita,  nec 
ut  emat  melius  nec  ut  vendat,  quicquam  simulabit 
aut  dissimulabit  vir  bonus.  Atque^  iste  dolus  malus 
et  legibus  erat  vindicatus,  ut  tutela^  duodecim  tabu- 
lis,  circumscriptio  adulescentium  lege  Plaetoria,  et 
sine  lege  iudiciis,  in  quibus  additur  ex  fide  bona. 
Reliquorum  autem  iudiciorum  haec  verba  maxime 
excellunt:  in  arbitrio  rei  uxoriae  melius  aequius,  in 
fiducia  UT  INTER  BONos  BENE  AGiER.  Quid  crgo  ?  aut 
in  eo,  QUOD  melius  aequius,  potest  uUa  pars  inesse 
fraudis?  aut,  cum  dicitur  inter  bonos  bene  agier, 
quicquam  agi  dolose  aut  malitiose  potest?  Dolus 
autem  malus  in  simulatione,  ut  ait  Aquilius,  con- 
tinetur.  Tollendum  est  igitur  ex  rebus  contrahendis 
omne  mendacium;  non  illicitatorem^  venditor,  non, 
qui  contra  se  liceatur,  emptor  apponet;  uterque,  si 
ad  eloquendum  venerit,  non  plus  quam  semel  f,lo- 

62  quetur.  Q.  quidem  Scaevola  P.  f,,  cum  postulasset, 
ut  sibi  fundus,  cuius  emptor  erat,  semel  indicaretur 

*  AfgtieMSS.,  Bt.',  Muller,  Heine  ;  Atqui  Manutius,  Ed., 
Bl«. 

*  w/  tutela  MSS.,  Bt.,  Muller  ;  ut  in  tutela  Heine,  Ed. 

^  no7i  illicitatorem  c  (inl. )  p,  Edd. ;  non  licitatorem  B  H  a  b. 

a  See  §  70  below, 
330 


BOOK  III.  xiv-xv 

scoundrels.  No  act  of  theirs  can  be  expedient,  when 
what  they  do  is  tainted  with  so  many  vices. 

XV.  But  if  Aquilius*s  definition  is  correct,  pre- 
tence  and  concealment  should  be  done  away  with  in 
all  departments  of  our  daily  life.  Then  an  honest 
man  will  not  be  guilty  of  either  pretence  or  conceal- 
ment  in  order  to  buy  or  to  sell  to  better  advantage. 
Besides,  your  criminal  fraud"  had  previously  been  Criminai  fraud 
prohibited  by  the  statutes :  the  penalty  in  the  matter  ^"^  ^^  '^^" 
of  trusteeships,  for  example,  is  fixed  by  the  Twelve 
Tables ;  for  the  defrauding  of  minors,  by  the  Plae- 
torian  law.  The  same  prohibition  is  effective,  with- 
out  statutory  enactment,  in  equity  cases,  in  which 
it  is  added  that  the  decision  shall  be  "as  good 
faith  requires."*  In  all  other  cases  in  equity, 
moreover,  the  following  phrases  are  most  note- 
worthy :  in  a  case  calling  for  arbitration  in  the  matter 
of  a  wife's  dowry :  what  is  "the  fairer  is  the  better  "  ; 
in  a  suit  for  the  restoration  of  a  trust:  "honest 
dealingj  as  between  honest  parties."  Pray,  then, 
can  there  be  any  element  of  fraud  in  what  is  adjusted 
for  the  better  and  fairer"?  Or  can  anything 
fraudulent  or  unprincipled  be  done,  when  "  honest 
dealing  between  honest  parties  "  is  stipulated  ?  But 
criminal  fraud,"  as  Aquilius  says,  consists  in  false 
pretence.  We  must,  therefore,  keep  misrepresenta-  criminaifraud 
tion  entirely  out  of  business  transactions :  the  seller  '°  *^^  ''^^*  °K 

.„         ,  ,  ,  .1,  moral  rectitud» 

will  not  engage  a  bogus  bidder  to  run  pnces  up  nor 
the  buyer  one  to  bid  low  against  himself  to  keep 
them  down;  and  each,  it  they  come  to  naming  a 
price,  will  state  once  for  all  what  he  will  give  or  take. 
Why,  when  Quintus  Scaevola,  the  son  of  Publius 
Scaevola,  asked  that  the  price  of  a  farm  that  he 
desired  to  purchase  be  definitely  named  and  the 

331 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
idque  venditor  ita  fecisset,  dixit  se  pluris  aestimare ; 
addidit  eentum  milia.  Nemo  est,  qui  hoc  viri  boni 
fuisse  negetj  sapientis  negant,  ut  si  minoi-is,  quani 
potuisset,  vendidisset.  Haec  igitur  est  illa  pemicies, 
quod  alios  bonos,  alios  sapientes  existimant.  Ex  quo 
Medea,^  Ennius  "  nequiquam  sapere  sapientem,  qui  ipse  sibi 
^'^  prodesse  non   quiret."      Vere   id   quidem,  si,  quid 

esset  "prodesse,"  mihi  cumlEnnio  conveniret. 

63  Hecatonem  quidem  Rhodium,  discipulum  Panaeti- 
video  in  iis  libris,  quos  de  officio  scripsit  Q.  Tuberoni , 
dicere  "  sapientis  esse  nihil  contra  mores,  leges,  in- 
stituta  facientem  habere  rationem  rei  familiaris. 
Neque  enim  solum  nobis  divites  esse  volumus,  sed 
liberis,  propinquis,  amicis  maximeque  rei  publicae, 
Singulorum  enim  facultates  et  copiae  divitiae  sunt 
civitatis."  Huic^  Scaevolae  [factum,  de  quo  paulo 
ante  dixi,  placere  nullo  modo  potest ;  etenim  om- 
nino  tantum  se  negat  facturum  compendii  sui  causa, 
quod  non  liceat.  Huic  nec  laus  magna  tribuenda 
nec  gratia  est. 

64  Sed,  sive  et  simulatio  et  dissimulatio  dolus  malus 
est,  perpaucae  res  sunt/^  in  quibus  non  dolus  malus 

*  huic  c,  Edd.;  huius  B  H  a  b- 
332 


BOOK  III.  XV 

vendor  namedit,  he  replied  that  he  considered  it 
worth  more^  and  paid  him  100,000  sesterces  over 
and  above  what  he  asked.  No  one  could  say  that 
tliis  was  not  the  act  of  an  honest  man  ;  but  people  do 
say  that  it  was  not  the  act  of  a  worldly-wise  man,  any 
more  than  if  he  had  sold  for  a  smaller  amount  than 
he  could  have  commanded.  Here,  then,  is  that 
mischievous  idea — the  world  accounting  some  men 
upright,  others  wise ;  and  it  is  this  fact  that  gives 
Eimius'occasion  to  say : 

*'  In  vain  is  the  wise  man  wise,  who  cannot 
benefit  himself." 

And  Ennius  is  quite  right,  if  only  he  and  I  were  agreed 
upon  the  meaning  of  "benefit." 

Now  I  observe  that  Hecaton  of  Rhodes,  a  pupil  of 
Panaetius,  says  in  his  books  on  "  Moral  Duty " 
dedicated  to  Quintus  Tubero  that  "  it  is  a  wise 
man's  duty  to  take  care  of  his  private  interests,  at  The  standard 
the  same  time  doing  nothing  contrary  to  the  civil  ofseifishness. 
customs,  laws,  and  institutions.  But  that  depends 
on  our  purpose  in  seeking  prosperity ;  for  we  do  not 
aim  to  be  rich  for  ourselves  alone  but  for  our  chil- 
dren,  relatives,  friends,  and,  above  all,  for  our  country. 
For  the  private  fortunes  of  individuals  are  the  wealth 
of  the  state."  Hecaton  could  not  for  a  moment 
approve  of  Scaevola's  act,  which  I  cited  a  moment 
ago ;  for  he  openly  avows  that  he  will  abstain  from 
doing  for  his  own  profit  only  what  the  law  expressly 
forbids.  Such  a  man  deserves  no  great  praise  nor 
gratitude. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  if  both  pretence  and  conceal- 
ment  constitute  "  criminal  fraud/'  there  are  very 
few  transactions  into  which  "criminal  fraud "  does 

33S 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
iste  versetur,  sive  vir  bonus  est  is,  qui  prodest,  qui- 
bus  potest,  nocet  neminij  certe^  istum^  virum  bonuni 
non  facile  reperimus. 

Numquam  igitur  est  utile  peccare,  quia  semper 
est  turpe,  et,  quia  semper  est  honestum  virum  bonum 
esse,  semper  est  utile. 

65  XVI.  Ac  de  iure  quidem  praediorum  sanctum  apud 
nos  est  iure  civili,  ut  in  iis  vendendis  vitia  diceren- 
tur,  quae  nota  essent  venditori.  Nam,  cum  ex  duo- 
decim  tabulis  satis  esset  ea  praestari,  quae  essent 
lingua  nuncupata,  quae  qui  infitiatus  esset,  dupli 
poenam  subiret,  a  iuris  consultis  etiam  reticentiae 
poena  est  constituta ;  quicquid  enim  esset^  in  praedio 
vitii,  id  statuerunt,  si  venditor  sciret,  nisi  nomina- 

66  tim  dictum  esset,  praestari  oportere.  Ut,  cum  in 
arce  augurium  augures  acturi  essent  iussissentque 
Ti.*  Claudium  Centumalum,  qui  aedes  in  Caelio 
monte  habebat,  demoliri  ea,  quorum  altitudo  office- 
ret  auspiciis,  Claudius  proscripsit  insulam  [vendidit],^ 
emit  P.  Calpurnius  Lanarius.  Huic  ab  auguribus 
illud  idem  denuntiatum  est.  Itaque  Calpurnius  cum 
demolitus  esset  cognossetque  Claudium  aedes  postea 
proscripsisse,   quam    esset    ab    auguribus   demoliri 

'  certe  Lainb.,  Edd. ;  recte  MSS. 

*  istum  p  c,  Edd. ;  iustum  B  H  a  b. 

*  esset  p  c,  Edd.;  ^5/  B  U  a  b. 

*  Ti.  Lang-e,  Edd. ;  tttum  MSS. 

*  vendidtt  B  H  a  b  ;  ^/  vendidit  p  c. ;  Edd.  omit. 

354 


BOOK  III.  xv-xvi 

not  enter ;  or,  if  he  only  is  a  good  man  who  helps 
all  he  can,  and  harms  no  one,  it  will  certainly  be  no 
easy  matter  for  us  to  find  the  good  man  as  thus 
defined. 

^o  concludcj  then,  it  is  never  expedient  to  do 
wrong,  because  wrong  is  always  immoral ;  and  it  is 
always  expedient  to  be  good,  because  goodness  is 
always  moral. 

XVI.  In  the  laws  pertaining  to  the  sale  of  real  conceaimentof 
property  it  is  stipulated  in  our  civil  code  that  when  estat^e^^pro"*  '^^' 
a  transfer  of  any  real  estate  is  made,  all  its  defects  hibited  by  lavK 
shall  be  declared  as  far  as  they  are  known  to  the 
vendor.  According  to  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables 
it  used  to  be  sufficient  that  such  faults  as  had  been 
expressly  declared  should  be  made  good  and  that  for 
any  flaws  which  the  vendor  expressly  denied,  when 
questioned,  he  should  be  assessed  double  damages. 
A  like  penalty  for  failure  to  make  such  declaration 
also  has  now  been  secured  by  our  jurisconsults: 
they  have  decided  that  any  defect  in  a  piece  of  real 
estate,  if  known  to  the  vendor  but  not  expressly 
stated,  must  be  made  good  by  him.  For  example, 
the  augurs  were  proposing  to  take  observations  from 
the  citadel  and  they  ordered  Tiberius  Claudius  Cen- 
tumalus,  who  owned  a  house  upon  the  Caelian  Hill, 
to  pull  down  such  parts  of  the  building  as  obstructed 
the  augurs'  view  by  reason  of  their  height.  Claudius 
at  once  advertised  his  block  for  sale,  and  Publius 
Calpurnius  Lanarius  bought  it.  The  same  notice 
was  served  also  upon  him.  And  so,  when  Calpurnius 
had  pulled  down  those  parts  of  the  building  and 
discovered  that  Claudius  had  advertised  it  for  sale 
only  after  the  augurs  had  ordered  them  to  be  pulled 
down,  he  summoned  the  former  owner  before  a  court 

335 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
iussus,  arbitrum   illum    adegit,   quicquid    sibi  dare 

FACERE    OPORTERET    EX    FXDE    BONA.       M.   CatO    Sentcn- 

tiam  dixit,  huius  nostri  Catonis  pater  (ut  enim 
ceteri  ex  patribus,  sic  hic,  qui  illud  lumen  progenuit, 
ex  filio  est  nominandus) — is  igitur  iudex  ita  pronun- 
tiavit:  cum  in  vendendo  rem  eam  scisset  et  non 
pronuntiasset,  emptori  damnum  praestari  oportere." 
67  Ergo  ad  fidem  bonam  statuit  pertinere  notum 
esse  emptori  vitium,  quod  nosset  venditor.  Quod  si 
recte  iudicavit,  non  recte  frumentarius  ille,  non 
recte  aedium  pestilentium  venditor  tacuit.  Sed 
huius  modi  reticentiae  iure  civili  comprehendi^  non 
possunt;  quae  autem  possunt,  diligenter  tenentur. 
M.  Marius  Gratidianus,  propinquus  noster,  C.  Sergio 
Oratae  vendiderat  aedes  eas,  quas  ab  eodem  ipse 
paucis  ante  annis  emerat.  Eae  serviebant,^  sed  hoc 
in  mancipio  Marius  non  dixerat.  Adducta  res  in 
iudicium  est.  Oratam  Crassus,  Gratidianum  de- 
fendebat  Antonius.  lus  Crassus  urguebat,  quod 
vitii  venditor  non  dixisset  sciens,  id  oportere  prae- 
stari,"  aequitatem    Antonius,  *  quoniam  id   vitium 


^ comprehendi  MSS. ;  ovines  comprehendi  Bt.,  Heine. 
* serviehant  Hcus.,  Edd. ;  sergio serviebant  B  H  a  b  ;  sergio 
alii  serviebant  c. 

S&6 


BOOK  III.  xvi 

of  equity  to  decide  what  indemnity  tlie  owner  was 
under  obligation  in  good  faith '  to  pay  and  deliver 
to  him."  The  verdiot  was  pronounced  by  Marcus 
Cato^  the  father  of  our  Cato  (for  as  other  men  receive 
a  distinguishing  name  from  their  fathers,  so  he  who 
bestowed  upon  the  world  so  bright  a  luminary  must 
have  his  distinguishing  name  from  liis  son);  he^  as 
I  was  saying,  was  presiding  judge  and  pronounced 
the  verdict  that  since  the  augurs'  mandate  was 
known  to  the  vendor  at  the  time  of  making  the 
transfer  and  since  he  had  not  made  it  known,  he  was 
bound  to  make  good  the  purchasers  loss." 

Withthis  verdict  he  estabhshed  the  principle  that  Scope  of  Cato'o 
it  was  essential  to  good  faith  that  any  defect  known  ^*^*^  ^*"* 
to  the  vendor  must  be  made  known  to  the  purchaser. 
If  his  decision  was  right,  our  grain  dealer  and  the 
vendor  of  the  unsanitary  house  did  not  do  right  to 
suppress  the  facts  in  those  cases.  But  the  civil  code 
cannot  be  made  to  include  all  cases  where  facts  are 
thus  suppressed;  but  those  cases  which  it  does 
include  are  summarily  dealt  with.  Marcus  Marius 
Gratidianus,  a  kinsman  of  ours^  sold  back  to  Gaius 
Sergius  Orata  the  house  which  he  himself  had 
bought  a  few  years  before  from  that  same  Orata.  It 
was  subject  to  an  encumbrance^  but  Marius  had  said 
notliing  about  this  fact  in  stating  the  terms  of  sale. 
The  case  was  cai-ried  to  the  courts.  Crassus  was 
counsel  for  Orata;  Antonius  was  retained  by  Grati- 
dianus.     Crassus  pleaded  the  letter  of  the  law  that 

the  vendor  was  bound  to  make  good  the  defectj 
for  he  had  not  declared  it,  although  he  was  aware  ot 
it";  Antonius  laid  stress  upon  the  equity  of  the  case, 
pleading  that,  inasmuch  as  the  defect  in  question 
had  not  been  unknown  to  Sergius  (for  it  was  the 
z  337 


CICEIIO  DE  OFFICIIS 
ignotum  Sergio  non  fuisset,  qui  illas  aedes  vendi- 
dissetj  nihil  fuisse  necesse  dicij  nec  eum  esse  dece- 
ptum,  qui,  id,  quod  emerat,  quo  iure  esset,  teneret." 

^8  Quorsus  haec?  Ut  ilhid  intellegas,  non  placuisse 
maioribus  nostris  astutos. 

XVII.  Sed  ahter  leges,  ahter  philosophi  tollunt 
astutias,  leges,  quatenus  manu  tenere  possunt, 
philosophi,  quatenus  ratione  et  intellegentia.  Ratio 
ergo  hoc  postulat,  ne  quid  insidiose,  ne  quid  simulate, 
ne  quid  fallaciter.  Suntne  igitur  insidiae  tendere 
plagas,  etiamsi  excitaturus  non  sis  nec  agitaturus.^ 
ipsae  enim  ferae  nullo  insequente  saepe  incidunt. 
Sic  tu  aedes  proscribas,  tabulam  tamquam  plagam 
ponas,  [domum  propter  vitia  vendas,]^  in  eam  aliquis 
incurrat  imprudens? 

69  Hoc  quamquam  video  propter  depravationem 
consuetudinis  neque  more  turpe  haberi  neque  aut 
lege  sanciri  aut  iure  civili,  tamen  naturae  lege 
sanctum  est.  Societas  est  enim  (quod  etsi  saepe 
dictum  est,  dicendum  est  tamen  saepius),  latissime 
quidem  quae  pateat,  omnium  inter  omnes,  interior 
eorum,  qui  eiusdem  gentis  sint,  propior  eorum,  qui 
eiusdem  civitatis.  Itaque  maiores  ahud  ius  gentium, 
ahud    ius   civile    esse   voluerunt;    quod    civilc,  uon 

^Bracketed  by  Unger,  Edd. 
338 


BOOK  III.  xvi-xvii 

same  house  that  he  had  sold  to  Marius),  i^o  declara- 
tion  of  it  was  needed^  and  in  pui'ehasing  it  back  he 
had  not  been  imposed  upon^  for  he  knew  to  what 
legal  habihty  his  purchase  was  subject." 

What  is  the  purpose  of  these  illustrations  ?  To 
let  you  see  that  our  forefathers  did  not  countenance 
sharp  practice. 

XVII.   Now  the  law  disposes  of  sharp  practices  in  Law 
one  way,  philosophers  in  another :  the  law  deals  with  phiiosophy  in 
them  as  far  as  it  can  lay  its  strong  arm  upon  them ;  deaiing  with 
philosophers,  as  far  as  they  can  be  apprehended  by    "^^®'^^' 
reason  and  conscience.     Now  reason  demands  that 
nothing  be  done  with  unfairness,  with  false  pretence, 
or   with    misrepresentation.     Is    it    not    deception, 
then,  to  set  snares,  even  if  one  does  not  mean  to 
start  the  game  or  to  drive  it  into  them  ?    Why,  wild 
creatures  often  fall  into  snares  undriven  and  unpur- 
sued.     Could  one  in  the  same  way  advei'tise  a  house 
for  sale^  post  upa  notice     To  be  sold,"  Hke  a  snare, 
and  liave  somebody  run  into  it  unsuspecting  ? 

Owing  to  the  low  ebb  of  pubhc  sentiment,  such  Qyii  \^^ 
a  method  of  procedure^  I  find^  is  neither  by  custom  Yi" 
accounted  morally  wrong  nor  forbidden  either  by 
statute  or  by  civil  law ;  nevertheless  it  is  forbidden 
by  the  moral  law.  For  there  is  a  bond  of  fellow- 
ship — although  I  have  often  made  this  statement, 
I  must  still  repeat  it  again  and  again — which  has  the 
very  widest  apphcation^  uniting  all  men  together 
and  each  to  each.  This  bond  of  union  is  closer 
between  those  who  belong  to  the  same  nation^  and 
more  intimate  still  between  those  who  are  citizens 
of  the  same  city-state.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
our  forefathers  chose  to  understand  one  thing  by  the 
universal  law  and  another  by  the  civil  law.  The 
z2  339 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
idem  continuo  gentium,  quod  autem  gentium,  idem 
civile  esse  debet.  Sed  nos  veri  iuris  germanaeque 
iustitiae  solidam  et  expressam  effigiem  nullam  tene- 
mus^  umbra  et  imaginibus  utimur.  Eas  ipsas  utinam 
sequeremurl    feruntur  enim  ex  optimis  naturae  et 

70  veritatis  exemplis.     Nam  quanti  verba  illa:   uti  ne 

PROPTER      TE      FIDEMVE      TUAM      CAPTUS       FRAUDATUSVE 

sim!  quam  illa  aurea:  UT  inter  bonos  bene  agier 
OPORTET  et  sine  fraudatione!  Scd,  qui  sint 
boni,"  et  quid  sit  bene  agi,"  magna  quaestio  est. 
Q.  quidem  Scaevola,  pontifex  maximus,  summam 
vim  esse  dicebat  in  omnibus  iis  arbitriis,  in  quibus 
adderetur  ex  fide  bona,  fideique  bonae  nomen  existi- 
mabat  manare  latissime,  idque  versari  in  tutelis 
societatibus,  fiduciis  mandatis,  rebus  emptis  ven- 
ditis,  conductis  locatis,  quibus  vitae  societas  contine- 
retur;  in  iis  magni  esse  iudicis  statuere,  praesertim 
cum  in  plerisque  essent  iudicia  contraria,  quid  quem- 
que  cuique  praestare  oporteret. 

71  Quocirca  astutiae  tollendae  sunt  eaque  malitia, 

quae  volt  illa  quidem  videri  se  esse  prudentiam,  sed 

abest  ab  ea  distatque  plurimimi.  Prudentia  est  enim 

locata  in  dilectu  bonorum  et  malorum,  malitia,  si 
340 


BOOK  III.  xvii 
civil  law  is  not  necessarily  also  the  universal  law ; 
but  the  universal  law  ought  to  be  also  the  civil  law. 
But  we  possess  no  substantial,  life-like  image  of  true 
Law  and  genuine  Justice ;  a  mere  outhne  sketch  is 
all  that  we  enjoy.  I  only  wish  that  we  were  true 
even  to  this ;  for,  even  as  it  is,  it  is  drawn  from  the 
excellent  models  which  Nature  and  Truth  afford. 
)  For  how  weighty  are  the  woi-ds :      That  I  be  not  "  Good  faith  " 

-  „in  performance 

deceived  and  defrauded  through  you  and  my  conh-  of  contracts. 
dence  in  3'ou"!  How  precious  are  these:  As 
between  honest  people  there  ought  to  be  honest 
deahng,  and  no  deception"!  But  who  are  honest 
people,"  and  what  is  "honest  deahng" — these  are 
seiious  questions. 

It  "vvas  Quintus  Scaevola,  the  pontifex  maximus, 
who  used  to  attach  the  greatest  importance  to  all 
questions  of  arbitration  to  which  the  formula  was 
appended  "as  good  faith  requires;"  and  he  held 
that  the  expression  '  good  faith  "  had  a  veiy  exten- 
sive  apphcation,  for  it  was  employed  in  trusteeships 
and  partnerships,  in  trusts  and  commissions,  in  buy- 
ing  and  selhng,  in  hiring  and  letting — in  a  word,  in 
all  the  transactions  on  which  the  social  relations  of 
daily  life  depend ;  in  these,  he  said,  it  required  a 
judge  of  great  abihty  to  decide  the  extent  of  each 
individuaVs  obhgation  to  the  other,  especially  when 
counter-claims  were  admissible  in  most  cases. 
1  Away,  then,  with  sharp  practice  and  trickery, 
which  desires,  of  course,  to  pass  for  wisdom,  but  is 
far  from  it  and  totally  unlike  it.  For  the  function 
of  wisdom  is  to  discriminate  between  good  and  evil ; 

341 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
omniaj  quae  turpia  sunt,  mala  sunt,  mala  bonis  ponit 
ante. 

Nec  vero  in  praediis  solum  ius  civile  ductum  a 
natura  malitiam  fraudemque  vindicat,  sed  etiam  in 
mancipiorum  venditione  venditoris  fraus  omnis  ex- 
cluditur.  Qui  enim  scire  debuit  de  sanitate,  de 
fuga,  de  furtis,  praestat  edicto  aedilium.  Heredum 
alia  causa  est. 

72  Ex  quo  intellegitur,  quoniam  iuris  natura  fons  sit, 
hoc  secundum  naturam  esse,  neminem  id  agere,  ut 
ex  alterius  praedetur  inscitia.  Nec  uUa  pernicies 
vitae  maior  inveniri  potest  quam  in  malitia  simulatio 
intellegentiae ;  ex  quo  ista  innumerabilia  nascuntur, 
ut  utilia  cum  honestis  pugnare  videantur.  Quotus 
enim  quisque  reperietur,  qui  impunitate  et  ignora- 
tione  omnium  proposita  abstinere  possit  iniuria  ? 

73  XVIII.  Periclitemur,  si  placet,  et  in  iis  quidem 
exemplis,  in  quibus  peccari  volgus  hominum  fortasse 
non  putet.  Neque  enim  de  sicariis,  veneficis,  testa- 
mentariis,  furibus,  peculatoribus  hoc  loco  disseren- 
dum  est,  qui  non  verbis  sunt  et  disputatione  philoso- 
phorum,  sed  vincHs  et  carcere  fatigandi,  sed  haec  ^ 
consideremus,  quae  faciunt  ii,  qui  habentur  boni. 

L.  Minuci  Basili,  locupletis  hominis,  falsum  testa- 
mentum  quidam  e  Graecia  Romam  attulerunt.  Quod 

'  haec  c.  Edd. ;  hoc  B  H  a  b. 
842 


BOOK  III.  xvii-xviii 

whereas,  inasmuch  as  all  things  morally  w^rong  are 
evil,  triekery  prefers  the  evil  to  the  good. 

It  is  not  only  in  the  case  of  real  estate  transfers 
that  the  civil  law,  based  upon  a  natural  feeling  for 
the  right,  punishes  trickery  and  deception,  but  also 
in  the  sale  of  slaves  every  form  of  deception  on  the 
vendors  part  is  disallowed.  For  by  the  aediles' 
ruhng  the  vendor  is  answerable  for  any  deficiency  in 
the  slave  he  sells,  for  he  is  supposed  to  know  if  his 
slave  is  souiid,  or  if  he  is  a  runaway,  or  a  thief.  The 
case  of  those  who  have  just  come  into  the  possession 
of  slaves  by  inheritance  is  different. 

From  this  we  come  to  realize  that  since  nature  is  cunning  is  not 
the  source  of  right,  it  is  not  in  accord  with  nature  wisdom. 
that  anyone  should  take  advantage  of  his  neigh- 
bour's  ignorance.  And  no  greater  curse  in  life  can 
be  found  than  knavery  that  wears  the  mask  of  wis- 
dom.  Thence  come  those  countless  cases  in  which 
the  expedient  seems  to  conflict  with  the  right.  For 
how  few  will  be  found  who  can  refrain  from  wrong- 
doing,  if  assured  of  the  power  to  keep  it  an  absolute 
secret  and  to  run  no  risk  of  punishment ! 

XVIII.  Let  us  put  our  principle  to  the  test,  if 
you  please,  and  see  if  it  holds  good  in  those  instances 
in  which,  perhaps,  the  world  in  general  finds  no 
wrong;  for  in  this  connection  we  do  not  need  to 
discuss  cut-throats,  poisoners,  forgers  of  wills,  thieves, 
and  embezzlers  of  public  moneys,  who  should  be 
repressed  not  by  lectures  and  discussions  of  philoso- 
phers,  but  by  chains  and  prison  walls;  but  let  us 
study  here  the  conduct  of  those  who  have  the  repu- 
tation  of  being  honest  men. 

Certain  individuals  brought  from  Greece  to  Rome 
a  forged  will,  purporting  to  be  that  of  the  wealthy 

343 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quo  facilius  optinerent,  scripserunt  heredes  secum 
M.  Crassum  et  Q.  Hortensium,  homines  eiusdem 
aetatis  potentissimos ;  qui  cum  illud  falsum  esse 
suspicarentur,  sibi  autem  nullius  essent  conscii 
culpae,  alieni  facinoris  munusculum  non  repudiave- 
runt.  Quid  ergo?  satin  est  hoc,  ut  non  deliquisse 
videantur?  Mihi  quidem  non  videtur,  quamquam 
alterum  vivum   amavi,  alterum  non   odi  mortuum ; 

74  sed,  cum  Basihis  M.  Satrium,  sororis  fihum,  nomen 
suum  ferre  voluisset  eumque  fecisset  heredem  (hunc 
dico  patronum  agri  Piceni  et  Sabini;  o  turpem 
notam  temporum  [nomen  illorum]  l),^  non  erat  aequum 
principes  civis  rem  habere,  ad  Satrium  nihil  praeter 
nomen  pervenire.  Etenim,  si  is,  qui  non  defendit 
iniuriam  neque  propulsat,^  cum  potest,  iniuste  facit, 

§23  ut  in  primo  libro  disserui,  quahs  habendus  est  is,  qui 
non  modo  non  repellit,  set  etiam  adiuvat  iniuriam  ? 
Mihi  quidem  etiam  verae  heredibites  non  honestae 
videntur,  si  sunt  mahtiosis  blanditiis,  officiorum  non 
veritate,  sed  simulatione  quaesitae. 

Atqui  in  taHbus  rebus  ahud  utile  interdum,  aliud 

75  honestum  videri  solet.    Falso ;  nam  eadem  utiHtatis, 
(75)  quae  honestatis,  est  regula.    Qui  hoc  non  pervidont, 

^turpetn  notam  temportim  nomefi  illorum  H  a  {turpe)  b, 
Bt. ;  excl.  nomcn  illoruvt  Victorius,  Ed. ;  tttrpe  noiiien  illo- 
rum  temporum  c. 

^ propulsat  cod.  Bern.,  O.,  Edd.;  proputsat  a  suis  Edd. 

aThe  shame  was  that  stales  enjoying-the  rigflitsof  Roman 
citizenship  should  need  a  patron  to  protccl  their  interests  in 
the  Roman  capital. 

844 


BOOK  III.  xviii 

Lucius  Minucius  Basilus.  The  more  easily  to  pro- 
cure  validity  for  it,  they  made  joint-heirs  with  them- 
selves  two  of  the  most  influential  men  of  the  day, 
Marcus  Crassus  and  Quintus  Hortensius.  Although 
these  men  suspected  that  the  will  was  a  forgeiy, 
still,  as  they  were  conscious  of  no  personal  guilt  in 
the  matter,  they  did  not  spurn  the  miserable  boon 
procured  through  the  crime  of  others.  What  shall  we 
say,  then?  Is  this  excuse  competent  to  acquit  them 
of  guilt?  I  cannot  think  so,  although  I  loved  the 
one  while  he  lived,  and  do  not  hate  the  other  now 
that  he  is  dead.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Basilus  had  in  fact 
desired  that  his  nephew  Marcus  Satrius  should  bear 
his  name  and  inherit  his  property.  (I  refer  to  the 
Satrius  who  is  the  present  patron  of  Picenum  and 
the  Sabine  country — and  oh,  what  a  shameful  stigma 
it  is  upon  the  times !  ^)  And  therefore  it  was  not 
right  that  two  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Rome 
should  take  the  estate  and  Satrius  succeed  to  nothing 
except  his  uncle's  name.  For  if  he  does  wrong  who 
does  not  ward  ofF  and  repel  injury  when  he  can — as 
I  explained  in  the  course  of  the  FirstBook — what  is  to 
be  thought  of  the  man  who  not  only  does  not  try  to 
prevent  wrong,  but  actually  aids  and  abets  it?  For 
my  part,  I  do  not  believe  that  even  genuine  legacies 
are  moral,  if  they  are  souglit  after  by  designing 
flatteries  and  by  attentions  liypocritical  rather  than 
sincere. 

And  j^et  in  such  cases  there  are  times  when  one  Thesamestand- 
course   is  likely  to  appear  expedient  and  another  di^ncy  asToV 
morally  right.      The  appearance  is  deceptive;   for  morairectitude. 
our  standard  is  the   same  for  expediency  and  for 
moral  rectitude.    And  the  man  who  does  not  accept 
the  truth  of  this  will  be  capable  of  any  sort  of  dis- 

345 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

ib  hoc  nulla  fraus  aberit,  nullum  facinus,  Sic  enim 
cogitans :  '  Est  istuc  quidem  honestum,  verum  hoc 
expedit/'  res  a  natura  copulatas  audebit  errore 
divellere^  qui  fons  est  fraudium,  maleficiorum,  scele- 
Tum  omnium. 

XIX.  Itaque,  si  vir  bonus  habeat  hanc  vim,  utj  si 
digitis  concrepuerit,  possit  in  locupletium  testamenta 
nomen  eius  inrepere,  hac  vi  non  utatur,  ne  si  explo- 
ratum  quidem  habeat  id  omnino  neminem  umquam 
Guspicaturum.  At  dares  hanc  vim  M.  Crasso,  ut 
digitorum  percussione  heres  posset  scriptus  esse,  qui 
re  vera  non  esset  heres,  in  forOj  mihi  crede,  saltaret. 
Homo  autem  iustus  isque,  quem  sentimus  virum 
bonum,  nihil  cuiquam,  quod  in  se  transferat,  detra- 
het.  Hoc  qui  admiratur,  is  se,  quid  sit  vir  bonus, 
76  nescire  fateatur.  At  vero,  si  qui  voluerit  animi  sui 
compHcatam  notionem  evolvere,  iam  se  ipse  doceat 
cum  virum  bonum  esse,  qui  prosit,  quibus  possit, 
noceat  nemini  nisi  lacessitus  iniuria.  Quid  ergo .'' 
hic  non  noceat,  qui  quodam  quasi  veneno  perficiat, 
ut  veros  heredes  moveat,  in  eorum  locum  ipse  succe- 
dat?  '*Non  igitur  faciat,"  dixerit  quis,  quod  utile 
sit,  quod  expediat  ? "     Immo  intellegat  niliil  nec 

«The  Platonic  doctrine  of  ideas   known   in  a  previous 
existence   and   gradiially  developing-   into    renewed    con- 
sciousness.     Learning-  is  but  a  remembering  of  what  the 
soul  has  known  before. 
346 


BOOK  III.  xviii-xix 

honesty,  any  sort  of  crime.  For  if  he  reasons 
"That  is^  to  be  sure,  the  right  course,  but  this 
course  brings  advantage,"  he  will  not  hesitate  in  his 
mistaken  judgment  to  divorce  two  conceptions  that 
nature  has  made  one;  and  that  spirit  opens  the 
door  to  all  sorts  of  dishonesty,  wrong-doing,  and 
crime. 

XIX.   Suppose^  then,  that  a  good  man  had  such  Thegoodman 
power  that  at  a  snap  of  his  fingers  his  name  could  unrighteous 
steal  into  rich  men's  wills^  he  would  not  avail  him-  sam. 
self  of  that  power — no^  not  even  though  he  could  be 
perfectly  sure  that  no  one  would  ever  suspect  it. 
Suppose,  on  the  other  hand^  that  one  were  to  offer 
a  Marcus  Crassus  the  power,  by  the  mere  snapping 
of  his  fingers,  to  get  himself  named  as  heir,  when  he 
was  not  really  an  heir,  he  would,   I   warrant  you, 
dance  in  the  forum.     But  the  righteous  man,  the 
one  whom  we  feel  to  be  a  good  man,  would  never 
rob  anyone  of  anything  to  enrich  himself.     If  any- 
body  is  astonished  at  this  doctrine,  let  him  confess 
76  that  he  does  not  know  what  a  good  man  is.      If,  on  whoisthegooi 
the  other  hand,  anyone  should  desire  to  unfold  the  ™^°' 
idea  of  a  good  man  which  lies  wrapped  up  in  his  OAvn 
mind/  he  would  then  at  once  make  it  clear  to  him- 
self  that  a  good  man  is  one  who  helps  all  whom  he 
can  and  harms  nobody,  unless  provoked  by  wrong., 
What  shall  we  say,  then?     Would  he  not  be  doing 
harm  who  by  a  kind  of  magic  spell  should  succeed 
in  displacing  the  real  heirs  to  an  estate  and  pushing 
himself  into  their  place?        Well/'  some  one  may 
say,  "  is  he  not  to  do  what  is  expedient,  what  is  ad- 
vantageous  to  himself  ?  "  Nay,  verily ;  he  should  rather 
be  brought  to  reahze  that  nothing  that  is  unjust  is 
either  advantageous  or  expedient;  if  he  does  not 

347 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
expedire  nec  utile  esse,  quod  sit  iniustum;  hoc  qui 
non  didicerit,  bonus  vir  esse  non  poterit. 
77  C}  Fimbriara  consularem  audiebam  de  patre  nostro 
puer  iudicem  M.  Lutatio  Pinthiae  fuisse,  equiti 
Romano  sane  honesto,  cum  is  sponsionem  fecisset, 
Ni  viR  BONUS  ESSET.  Itaque  ei  dixisse  Fimbriam  se 
illam  rem  numquam  iudicaturum,  ne  aut  spoliaret 
fama  probatum  hominem^  si  contra  iudicavisset,  aut 
statuissc  videretur  virum  bonum  esse  aliquem,  cum 
ea  res  innumerabilibus  officiis  et  laudibus  contine- 
retur. 

Huic  igitur  viro  bono,  quem  Fimbria  etiam,  non 
modo  Socrates  noverat,  nullo  modo  videri  potest 
quicquam  esse  utile,  quod  non  honestum  sit.  Itaque 
talis  vir  non  modo  facere,  sed  ne  cogitare  quidem 
quicquam  audebit,  quod  non  audeat  praedicare. 
Haec  non  turpe  est  dubitare  philosophos,  quae  ne 
rustici  quidem  dubitent?  a  quibus  natum  est  id, 
quod  iam  contritum  est  vetustate,  proverbium.  Cum 
cnim  fidem  alicuius  bonitatemque  laudant,  dignum 
esse  dicunt,  quicum  in  tenebris  mices."  Hoc  quam 
habet   vim   nisi    illam,    nihil    expedire,    quod    non 

'C.  Bt.,  Ed.,  Heine;  not  in  MSS. 


aLit.  '  flash  with  the  fingers';  shoot  out  some  fing-ers 
the  number  of  which  had  to  be  guessed. 

348 


liOOK  III.  xix 
learn  this  lessoiij  it  will  never  be  possible  for  him  to 
be  a     good  man." 

When  I  was  a  boy,  I  used  to  hear  my  father  tell 
that  Gaius  Fimbriaj  an  ex-consul,  was  judge  in  a 
case  of  Marcus  Lutatius  Pinthia,  a  Roman  knight  of 
irreproachable  character.  On  that  occasion  Pinthia 
had  laid  a  wager  to  be  forfeited  if  he  did  not  prove 
in  court  that  he  was  a  good  man."  Fimbria  de- 
clared  that  he  would  never  render  a  decision  in  such 
a  case,  for  fear  that  he  might  either  rob  a  reputable 
man  of  his  good  name,  if  he  decided  against  him,  or 
be  thought  to  have  pronounced  some  one  a  good 
man,  when  such  a  character  is,  as  he  said,  estabhshed 
by  the  performance  of  countless  duties  and  the  pos- 
session  of  praiseworthy  quahties  without  number. 

To  this  type  of  good  man,  then,  known  not  only  to  a  good  maD 
to  a  Socrates  but  even  to  a  Fimbria,  nothing  can  ITevTrex^pedjen 
possibly  seem  expedient  that  is  not  morally  right. 
Such  a  man,  therefore,  will  never  venture  to  think 
— to  say  nothing  of  doing — anything  that  he  would 
not  dare  openly  to  proclaim.  Is  it  not  a  shame  that 
philosophers  should  be  in  doubt  about  moral  ques- 
tions  on  which  even  peasants  have  no  doubts  at  all  ? 
For  it  is  with  peasants  that  the  proverb,  already  trite 
with  age,  originated:  when  they  praise  a  man's 
honour  and  honesty,  they  say  "He  is  a  man  with 
whom  you  can  safely  play  at  odd  and  even*  in  the 
dark."  What  is  the  point  of  the  proverb  but  this — 
that  what  is  not  proper  brings  no  advantage,  even  if 

S49 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
deceat,  etiamsi  id  possis  nullo  refellente  optinere.'' 

78  Videsne  hoc  proverbio  neque  Gygi  illi  posse 
veniam  dari  neque  huic,  quem  paulo  ante  fingebam 
digitorum  percussione  hereditates  omnium  posse 
converrere  ?  Ut  enim^  quod  turpe  est,  id,  quamvis 
occultetur,  tamen  honestum  fieri  nullo  modo  potest, 
sic,  quod  honestum  non  est,  id  utile  ut  sit,  effici  non 
potest  adversante  et  repugnante  natura. 

79  XX.  At  enim,  cum  permagna  praemia  sunt,  est 
causa  peccandi. 

C.  Marius  cum  a  spe  consulatus  longe  abesset  et 
iam  septimum  annum  post  praeturam  iaceret,  neque 
petiturus  umquam  consulatum  videretur,  Q.  Metel- 
lum,  cuius  legatus  erat,  summum  virum  et  civem, 
cum  ab  eo,  imperatore  suo,  Romam  missus  esset, 
apud  populum  Romanum  criminatus  est  bellum  illum 
ducere;  si  se  consulem  fecissent,  brevi  tempore  aut 
vivum  aut  mortuum  lugurtham  se  in  potestatem 
populi  Romani  redactui-um.  Itaque  factus  est  ille 
quidem  consul,  sed  a  fide  iustitiaque  discessit,  qui 
optimum  et  gravissimum  civem,  cuius  legatus  et  a 
quo  missus  esset,  in  invidiam  falso  crimine  adduxerit. 

80  Ne    noster   quidem    Gratidianus  officio  viri  boni 

'  et  tam  Edd. ;  etiam  MSS. 
S50 


BOOK  III.  xix-xx 

you  can  gain  your  end  without  any  one's  being  able 
to  convict  you  of  wrong  ? 

Do  you  not  see  that  in  the  hght  of  this  proverb 
no  excuse  is  available  either  for  the  Gyges  of  the 
story  or  for  the  man  who  I  assumed  a  moment  ago 
could  with  a  snap  of  his  fingers  sweep  together 
everybody's  inheritance  at  once.  For  as  the  morally 
wrong  cannot  by  any  possibility  be  made  morally 
rightj  however  successfully  it  may  be  covered  up^  so 
what  is  not  morally  right  cannot  be  made  expedient, 
for  nature  refuses  and  resists. 

XX.   "But  stay,"  some  one  will  object^  "  when  xhe  morai  loss 
the  prize  is  very  great^  there  is  excuse  for  doing  wrong°^b^  ""^ 

Wrong."  tions: 

Gaius  Marius  had  been  left  in  obscurity  for  more  (i)Marius, 
than  six  whole  years  after  his  praetoi'ship  and  had 
scarcely  the  remotest  hope  of  gaining  the  consul- 
ship.     It  looked  as  if  he  would  never  even  be  a 
candidate  for  that  office.      He  was  now  a  lieutenant  ^|#v^ 

under  Quintus  Metelhis,  who  sent  him  on  a  furlough 
to  Rome.  There  before  the  Roman  People  he 
accused  his  own  general,  an  eminent  man  and  one 
of  our  first  citizens^  of  purposely  protracting  the  war 
and  declared  that  if  they  would  make  him  consul^ 
he  would  within  a  short  time  deUver  Jugurtha  alive 
or  dead  into  the  hands  of  the  Roman  People.  And 
so  he  was  elected  consul,  it  is  true,  but  he  was  a 
traitor  to  his  own  good  faith  and  to  justice;  for  by  a 
false  charge  he  subjected  to  popular  disfavour  an 
exemplary  and  highly  respected  citizen,  and  that 
too,  although  he  was  his  heutenant  and  under  leave 
of  absence  from  him. 

Even  our  kinsman  Gratidianus  failed  on  one  occa-  (2)  Gratidianus, 

3.51 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
functus  est  tum^  cum  praetor  esset  collegiumque 
praetorium  tribuni  plebi  adhibuissentj  ut  res  num- 
maria  de  communi  sententia  constitueretur ;  iacta- 
batur  enim  temporibus  illis  nummus  sic,  ut  nemo 
posset  scire,  quid  haberet.  Conscripserunt  commu- 
niter  edictum  cum  poena  atque  iudicio  constitue- 
runtque,  ut  omnes  simul  in  rostra  post  meridiem 
escenderent.  Et  ceteri  quidem  alius  alio,  Marius 
ab  subselliis  in  rostra  recta  idque,  quod  communiter 
compositum  fuerat,  solus  edixit.  Et  ea  res,  si  quaeris, 
ei  magno  honori  fuit;  omnibus  vicis  statuae,  ad  eas 
tus,  cerei ;  quid  multa  ?  nemo  umquam  multitudini 
fuit  carior, 
8 1  Haec  sunt,  quae  conturbent  in  deliberatione  non 
numquam,  cum  id,  in  quo  violatur  aequitas,  non  ita 
magnum,  illud  autem,  quod  ex  eo  paritur,  perma- 
gnum  videtur,  ut  Mario  praeripere  collegis  et  tribunis 
plebi  popularem  gratiam  non  ita  turpe,  consulem  ob 
eam  rem  fieri,  quod  sibi  tum  proposuerat,  valde  utile 
videbatur.  Sed  omnium  una  regula  est,  quam  tibi 
cupio  esse  notissimam,  aut  illud,  quod  utile  videtur, 
turpe  ne  sit  aut,  si  turpe  est,  ne  videatur  esse  utile. 


a  Gratidianiis's. 

bNever  attained,  however.  For  his  conspicuous  position 
as  a  popular  leader  made  him  an  early  mark  for  Sulla's 
proscriptions. 

352 


BOOK  III.  XX 

sion  to  perform  what  would  be  a  good  man's  duty : 
in  his  praetorship  the  tribunes  of  the  people  sum- 
moned  the  college  of  praetors  to  counsel,  in  order 
to  adopt  by  joint  resolution  a  standard  of  value  for 
our  currency;  for  at  that  time  the  value  of  money 
was  so  fluctuating  that  no  one  could  tell  how  much 
he  was  worth.  In  joint  session  they  drafted  an 
ordinance^  defining  the  penalty  and  the  methods  of 
procedure  in  cases  of  violation  of  the  ordinance^  and 
agreed  that  they  should  all  appear  together  upon 
the  rostra  in  the  afternoon  to  pubhsh  it.  And  while 
all  the  rest  withdrew^  some  in  one  direction,  some 
in  another^  Marius  (Gratidianus)  went  straight  from 
the  council  chamber  to  the  rostra  and  published 
individually  what  had  been  drawn  up  by  all  together. 
And  that  coup,  if  you  care  to  know,  brought  him 
vast  honour;  in  every  street  statues  of  him  were 
erected;  before  these  incense  and  candles  burned. 
In  a  word,  no  one  ever  enjoyed  greater  popularity 
with  the  masses. 

It  is  such  cases  as  these  that  sometimes  perplex  Nomateriai 
us  in  our  consideration,  when  the  point  in  which  pen^ate^for 
justice  is  violated  does  not  seem  so  very  significant,  inoraiioss- 
but  the  consequences  of  such  shght  transgression 
seem  exceedingly  important.    For  example,  it  was  not 
so  very  wrong  morally,  in  the  eyes  of  Marius,^  to  over- 
reach  his  colleagues  and  the  tribunes  in  turning  to 
himself  alone  all  the  credit  with  the  people ;  but  to 
secure  by  that  means  his  election  to  the  consulship, 
which  was  then  the  goal  of  his  ambition,^  seemed 
very  greatly  to  his  interest.     But  for  all  cases  we 
have  one  rule,  with  which  I  desire  you  to  be  per- 
fectly  famihar:  that  which  seems  expedient  mus^ 
not  be  morally  wrong;  or,  if  it  is  morally  wrong,  it 
AA  353 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
Quod  igitur?  possumusne  aut  illum  Marium  virum 
bonum  iudicai*e  aut  hunc^?  Explica  atque  excnte 
intellegentiam  tuam,  ut  videas,  quae  sit  in  ea  [speciesj 
forma^  et  notio  viri  boni.  Cadit  ergo  in  virum  bonum 
mentiri  emolumenti  sui  causa,  criminari,  praeripere, 
fallere?  Nihil  profecto  minus. 
82  Est  ergo  ulla  res  tanti  aut  commodum  ullum  tam 
expetendum,  ut  viri  boni  et  splendorem  et  nomen 
amittas  ?  Quid  est,  quod  afFerre  tantum  utilitas 
ista,  quae  dicitur,  possit,  quantum  auferre,  si  boni 
viri  nomen  eripuerit,  fidem  iustitiamque  detraxerit  ? 
Quid  enim  interest,  utrum  ex  homine  se  convertat 
quis  in  beluam  an  hominis  figura  immanitatem  gerat 
beluae  ? 

XXI.  Quid  ?  qui  omnia  recta  et  honesta  negle- 
gunt,  dum  modo  potentiam  consequantur,  nonne 
idem  faciunt,  quod  is,  qui  etiam  socerum  habere 
voluit  eum,  cuius  ipse  audacia  potens  esset  ?  Utile 
ei  videbatur  plurimum  posse  alterius  invidia ;  id 
quam  iniustum  in  patriam  et  quam  turpe  esset,  non 
videbat.  Ipse  autem  socer  in  ore  semper  Graecos 
versus  de  Phoenissis  liabebat,  quos  dicam,  ut  potero, 
incondite  fortasse,  sed  tamen,  ut  res  possit  intellegi  : 

*  aut  hunc  c,  Edd. ;  atque  hunc  B  H  a  b. 
^  ea  species  forma  B  H  a  b ;  ^a  specie  fonna  c  p ;  eaforma, 
Klotz,  Heine,  Ed. ;  ea  species,  Bt. 


«Pompey,  who  in  sgmanied  Caesar's  daughter  Julia, 
twenty-four  years  his  junior,  and   already   betrothed   to 
Caepio. 
354 


BOOK  III.  xx-xxi 

must  not  seem  expedient.  What  folloAvs  ?  Can  we 
account  either  the  great  Marius  or  our  Marius  Grati- 
dianus  a  good  man  ?  Work  out  your  own  ideas  and 
sift  your  thoughts  so  as  to  see  what  conception  and 
idea  of  a  good  man  they  contain.  Pray^  tell  me, 
does  it  coincide  with  the  character  of  your  good  man 
to  lie  for  his  own  profit,  to  slander,  to  overreachj  to 
deceive?     Nay,  verily;  anything  but  that! 

Is  there,  then,  any  object  of  such  value  or  any 
advantage  so  worth  the  winning  that,  to  gain  it,  one 
should  sacrifice  the  name  of  a  good  man"  and  the 
lustre  of  his  reputation?  What  is  tliere  that  your 
so-called  expediency  can  bring  to  you  that  will  com- 
pensate  for  what  it  can  take  away,  if  it  steals  from 
you  the  name  of  a  good  man"  and  causes  you  to 
lose  your  sense  of  honour  and  justice  ?  For  what 
difference  does  it  make  whether  a  man  is  actually 
transformed  into  a  beast  or  whether,  keeping  the 
outward  appearance  of  a  man,  he  has  the  savage 
nature  of  a  beast  within  ? 

XXI.  Again,  when  people  disregard  everything 
that  is  morally  right  and  true,  if  only  they  may 
secure  power  thereby,  are  they  not  pursuing  the 
same  course  as  he^  who  wished  to  have  as  a  father-in-  (3)Pompcv, 
law  the  man  by  whose  efFrontery  he  might  gain 
power  for  himself  ?  He  thought  it  advantageous  to 
secure  supreme  power  while  the  odium  of  it  fell 
upon  another;  and  he  failed  to  see  how  unjust  to 
his  country  this  was,  and  how  wrong  morally.  But  (4)Caesax 
the  father-in-law  himself  used  to  have  continually 
upon  his  hps  the  Greek  verses  from  the  Phoenissae, 
whicl  I  will  reproduce  as  well  as  I  can — awkwardly, 
it  may  be,  bijt  still  so  that  the  meaning  can  be 
understood : 

A4?  355 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Eiir.  Phoen-   Nam  si  violandum  est  iiis,  regnancL  gnitia 

524-525 

Violandum  est ;  aliis  rebus  pietatem  colas. 
Capitalis    [Eteocles   vel   potius    Euripides],^   qui    id 
unum,  quod  omnium   sceleratissimum   fuerit,  exce- 

83  perit!  Quid  igitur  minuta  colligimus,  hereditates, 
mercaturas,  venditiones  fraudulentas?  ecce  tibi,  qui 
rex  populi  Romani  dominusque  omnium  gentium 
esse  concupiverit  idque  perfecerit  I  Hanc  cupidita- 
tem  si  honestam  quis  esse  dicit,  amens  cst;  probat 
enim  legum  et  libertatis  interitum  earumque  oppres- 
sionem  taetram  et  detestabilem  gloriosam  putat. 
Qui  autem  fatetur  honestum  non  esse  in  ea  civitate, 
quae  libera  fuerit  quaeque^  esse  debeat,  regnare,  sed 
ei,  qui  id  facere  possit,  esse  utile,  qua  hunc  obiurga- 
tione  aut  quo  potius  convicio  a  tanto  errore  coner 
avellere?  Potest  enim,  di  immortales!  cuiquam  esse 
utile  foedissimum  et  taeterrimum  parrieidium  patriae, 
quamvis  is,  qui  se  eo  obstrinxerit,  ab  oppressis  civi- 
bus  parens  nominetur?  Honestate  igitur  dirigenda^ 
utilitas  est,  et  quidem  sic,  ut  haec  duo  verbo  inter  se 
discrepare,  re  unum  sonare  videantur. 

84  Non  habeo,  ad  volgi  opinionem  quae  maior  utilitas 
quam  regnandi  esse  possit;  nihil  contra  inutihus  ei, 
qui  id  iniuste  consecutus  sit,  invenio,  cum  ad  veritatem 

^Bracketed  by  Ed.,  Heine,  et  al. 

*fuerii  quacque  c,  Edd. ;  fitit  B  W  a  b. 

^  dirigenda  MSS.,  Edd.  plerique ;  derigenda  Ed. 

a  From  A.  S.  Way's  translation. 

bThe  title  bestovved  on  Cicero  for  savingf  the  republic 
(in  63)  and  on  Caesar  for  overthrowing-  it  (after  the  batile 
of  Munda,  in  45). 

356 


BOOK  III.  xxi 

"  If  wrong  may  e'er  be  right^  for  a  throne's  sake 
Were  wrong  most  right:— be  God  in  all  else 
feared:"^ 
Our  tjrant  deserved  his  death  for  liaving  made  an 
exception  of  the  one  thing  that  was  the  blackest 

5  crime  of  all.     VVhy  do  we  gather  instances  of  petty 
crime — legacies  criminally  obtained  and  fraudulent 
buying  and  selHng?     Behold^  here  you  have  a  man 
who  was  ambitious  to  be  king  of  the  Roman  People 
and  master  of  the  whole  world ;  and  he  achieved  it ! 
The  man  who  maintains  that  such  an  ambition  is  Even  to  gain  a 
morally  right  is  a  madman;  for  he  justifies  the  de-  wrongisnot*'" 
struction  of  law  and  liberty  and  thinks  their  hideous  expedient, 
and  detestable  suppression  glorious.    But  if  auyone 
agrees  that  it  is  not  morally  right  to  be  king  in  a 
state  that  once  was  free  and  that  ought  to  be  free 
now,  and  yet  imagines  that  it  is  advantageous  for 
him  who  can  reach  that  position,  Avitli  what  remon- 
strance  or  rather  with  what  appeal  sliould  I  try  to 
tear  him  away  from  so  strange  a  delusion?     For,  oh 
ye  immortal  gods !  can  the  most  horrible  and  hideous 
of  all  murders — that  of  fatherland — bring  advantage 
to  anybody,  even  though  he  who   has   committed 
such  a  crime  receives    from    his    enslaved   fellow- 
citizens  the  title    of  "  Father   of  his   Counti-y "  ^' ?  identity  of 
Expediency,  tlierefore,  must  be   measured   by  the  morltr^eTtUud^ 
standard  of  moral  rectitude,  and  in  such  a  way,  too, 
that  these  two  words  shall  seem  in  sound  only  to  be 
different  but  in  real  meaning  to  be  one  and  the  same. 

i  AVhat  greater  advantage  one  could  have,  according 
to  the  standard  of  popular  opinion,  than  to  be  a  king, 
I  do  not  know ;  wlien,  however,  I  begin  to  bring  the 
question  back  to  the  standai*d  of  truth,  then  I  find 
nothing  more  disadvantageous  for  one  who  has  risen 

357 


CICERO  DB  OFFICIIS 

coepi  revocare  rationem.   Possunt  enim  cuiquam  esse 
utiles  angores,  sollicitudines,  diurni  et  nocturni  metus, 
vita  insidiarum  periculorumque  plenissima? 
inc.  Fab;     Miilti  iniqui  atque  infideles  regno,  pauci  benivoli/ 

Ribbeck^,  ^  -l  o       7 1-  j 

*5l  inquit  Accius.     At  cui  regno?     Quod  a  Tantalo  et 

Pelope  proditum  iure  optinebatur.  Nam  quanto  plu- 
ris  ei  regi  putas,  qui  exercitu  populi  Romani  populum 
ipsum  Romanum  oppressisset  civitatemque  non  modo 
liberam,  sed  etiam  gentibus  imperantem  servire  sibi 

85  coegisset?  Hunc  tu  quas  conscientiae  labes  in  animo 
censes  habuisse,  quae  vulnera?  Cuius  autem  vita 
ipsi  potest  utilis  esse,  cum  eius  vitae  ea  condicio  sit, 
ut,  qui  illam  eripuerit,  in  maxima  et  gratia  futurus  sit 
et  gloria  ?  Quodsi  haec  utilia  non  sunt,  quae  maxime 
videntur,  quia  plena  simt  dedecoris  ac  turpitudinis, 
satis  persuasum  esse  debet  nihil  esse  utile,  quod  non 
honestum  sit. 

86  XXII.  Quamquam  id  quidem  cum  saepe  alias,  tum 
Pyrrhi  bello  a  C.  Fabricio  consule  iterum  et  a  senatu 
nostro  iudicatum  est.  Cum  enim  rex  Pyrrhus  populo 
Romano  bellum  ultro  intulisset,  cumque  de  imperio 
certamen  esset  cum  rege  generoso  ac  potenti,^  per- 
fuga  ab  eo  venit  in  castra  Fabrici  eique  est  pollicitus, 
si  praemium  sibi  proposuisset,  se,  ut  clam  venisset,  sic 
clam  in  Pyrrhi  castra  rediturum  et  eum  veneno  ne- 


^beni{e)voU  Slurenbg'. ;  benivoli  suni  c ;  bonisunt  B  H  a  b. 
*^o/^M^»  Nonius,  Y.dd. ',  potente  MSS. 

858 


BOOK  111.  xxi-xxii 

to  that  height  by  injustice.  For  can  occasions  for 
worry,  anxiety,  fear  by  day  and  by  nightj  and  a  life  all 
beset  with  plots  and  perils  be  of  advantage  to  any- 
bodv  ?  ' 

Thrones  have  many  foes  and  friends  untrue, 
but  few  devoted  friends," 
says  Accius.  But  of  what  sort  of  throne  was  he 
speaking  ?  Why,  one  that  was  held  by  right,  handed 
down  from  Tantalus  and  Pelops.  Aye,  but  how  many 
more  foes,  think  you,  had  that  king  who  with  the 
Roman  People's  anny  brought  the  Roman  People 
themselves  into  subjection  and  compelled  a  state  that 
not  only  had  been  free  but  had  been  mistress  of  the 
world  to  be  his  slave  ?  Wliat  stains  do  you  think  he 
had  upon  his  conscience,  what  scars  upon  his  heart? 
But  whose  Hfe  can  be  advantageous  to  himself,  if  that 
Hfe  is  his  on  the  condition  that  the  man  who  takes  it 
shall  be  held  in  undying  gratitude  and  glory  ?  But 
if  these  things  which  seem  so  very  advantageous  are 
not  advantageous  because  they  are  full  of  shame  and 
moral  wrong,  we  ought  to  be  quite  convinced  that 
nothing  can  be  expedient  that  is  not  morally  right. 

XXII.  And  yet  this  very  question  has  been  de-  Apparent 
cided  on  many  occasions  before  and  since ;  but  in  expediency  aifd 
the  war  with  Pyrrhus  the  decision  rendered  by  Gaius  morai  rectitude 
Fabricius,  in  his  second  consulship,  and  by  our  senate  the  deserter, 
was  particularly  striking.  Without  provocation  King 
Pyrrhus  had  declared  war  uponthe  Roman  People;  the 
struggle  was  against  a  generous  and  powerful  prince, 
and  the  supremacy  of  power  was  the  prize ;  a  deserter 
came  over  from  him  to  the  camp  of  Fabricius  and 
promised,if  Fabricius  would  assure  him  of  a  reward,to 
return  to  the  camp  of  Pyri-hus  as  secretly  as  he  had 
come,  administer  poison  to  the  king,  and  bring  about 

359 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
raturum.     Hunc  Fabricius  reducendum  curavit  ad 

Pyrrhum^  idque  eius  factum  laudatum  a  senatu  est. 

Atqui,  si  speciem  utilitatis  opinionemque  quaerimus, 

magnum  illud  bellum  perfuga  unus  et  gravem  adver- 

sarium  imperii  sustulisset,  sed  magnum  dedecus  et 

flagitium,  quicum  laudis  certamen  fuisset,  eum  non 

virtute,  sed  scelere  superatum. 

87       Utrum  igitur  utilius  vel  Fabricio,  qui  talis  in  hac 

urbe,  qualis  Aristides  Atlienis,  fuit,  vel  senatui  nostro, 

qui  numquam  utilitatem  a  dignitate  seiunxit,  armis 

cum   hoste  certare  an  venenis?     Si  gloriae  causa 

imperium  expetendum  est^  scelus  absit,  in  quo  non 

potest  esse  gloria;  sin  ipsae  opes  expetuntur  quoquo 

modo,  non  poterunt  utiles  esse  cum  infamia. 

Non  igitur  utilis  illa  L.  Philippi  Q.  f.  sententia, 

quas  civitates  L.  Sulla  pecunia  accepta  ex  senatus 

consulto  liberavisset,  ut  eae  rursus  vectigales  essent 

neque  iis  pecuniam,  quam  pro  libertate  dederant, 

redderemus.  Ei  senatus  est  assensus.  Turpe  imperio ! 

piratarum  enim  melior  fides  quam  senatus.  At  aucta 

vectigalia,  utile  igitur.     Quousque  audebunt  dicere 
360 


BOOK  III.  xxii 

his  death.  Fabricius  saw  to  it  that  this  fellow  was 
taken  back  to  Pyrrhus;  and  his  action  was  com- 
mended  by  the  senate.  And  yet,  if  the  mere  show 
of  expediency  and  the  popular  conception  of  it  are 
all  we  want,  this  one  deserter  would  have  put  an 
end  to  that  wasting  war  and  to  a  formidable  foe  of 
our  supremacy ;  but  it  would  have  been  a  lasting 
shame  and  disgrace  to  us  to  have  overcome  not  by 
valour  but  by  crime  the  man  with  whom  we  had  a 
contest  for  glory. 

Which  course^  then,  was  more  expedient  for 
Fabricius,  who  was  to  our  city  what  Aristides  was  to 
Athens,  or  for  our  senate,  who  never  divorced  expe- 
diency  from  honour — to  contend  against  the  enemy 
with  the  sword  or  with  poison?  If  supremacy  is  to 
be  sought  for  the  sake  of  glory,  crime  should  be  ex- 
cluded,  for  there  can  be  no  glory  in  crime ;  but  if  it 
is  power  for  its  own  sake  that  is  soughtj  whatever 
the  price,  it  cannot  be  expedient  if  it  is  linked  with 
shame. 

That  well-known  measure,  therefore,  introduced  (2)  the  senate 
by  Philippus,  the  son  of  Quintus,  was  not  expedient.  fary  aiHes!*'"' 
With  the  authority  of  the  senate,  Lucius  Sulla  had 
exempted  from  taxation  certain  states  upon  receipt 
of  a  lump  sum  of  money  from  them.  Phihppus 
proposed  that  they  should  again  be  reduced  to  the 
condition  of  tributary  states,  without  repaj^ment  on 
our  part  of  the  money  that  they  had  paid  for  their 
exemption.  And  the  senate  accepted  his  proposal. 
Sharae  upon  our  government!  The  pirates'  sense  of 
honour  is  higher  than  the  senate's.  But,"  some 
one  will  say,  the  revenues  were  increased,  and 
therefore  it  was  expedient."  How  long  will  people 
venture  to  say  that  a  thing  that  is  not  morally  right 


ClCEllO  DE  OFFICIIS 

88  quicquam  utile^  quod  non  honestum?  potest  autem 
ulli  imperio,  quod  gloria  debet  fultum  esse  et  beni- 
volentia  sociorum,  utile  esse  odium  et  infamia? 

Ego  etiam  cum  Catone  meo  saepe  dissensi;  nimi» 
mihi  praefracte  videbatur  aerarium  vectigahaque  de- 
fendei-e,  omnia  pubhcanis  negare,  multa  sociis,  cum 
in  hos  benefici  esse  deberemus,  cum  ihis  sic  agere, 
ut  cum  colonis  nostris  soleremus,  eoque  magis,  quod* 
illa  ordinum  coniunctio  ad  salutem  rei  pubhcae  per- 
tinebat.  Male  etiam  Curio,  cum  causam  Transpada- 
norum  aequam  esse  dicebat,  semper  autem  addebat : 

Vincat  utilitasl"  Fotius  doceret  non  esse  aequam, 
quia  non  esset  utihs  rei  pubhcae,  quam,  cum  utilem 
non  esse  diceret,  esse  aequam  fateretur. 

89  XXIII.  Plenus  est  sextus  hber  de  officiis  Hecatonis 
talium  quaestionum:  sitne  boni  viri  in  maxima 
caritate  annonae  famiham  non  alere." 

In  utramque  partem  disputat,  sed  tamen  ad  ex- 
tremum  utihtate,  ut  putat,  officium  dirigit^  magis 
quam  humanitate. 

Quaerit,  si  in  mari  iactura  facienda  sit,  equine  prc- 

^  quod  L  c,  Edd. ;  quo  B  H  a  b. 

^  <fm^«^  MSS.,  Edd.  plerique;  derig^ii  "EA. 

^Thepublicans,  farmersof  the  revenue,  werethe  moneyed 
men  of  the  times  and  belonged  to  the  equestrian  order.  They 
purchased  from  the  senate  the  farmins"  of  the  revenues  and 
then  sublet  their  contract  to  the  colledlors.  Sometimes  they 
found  that  Ihey  had  agreed  to  pay  too  high  a  rate  and 
petitioned  the  senate  to  release  them  from  their  contract 
or  reduce  their  obligations,  as  on  this  occasion  (b.c.  6i). 
The  opposition  of  Cato  and  others  strained  tlie  relations 
between  the  senate,  who  had  control  of  the  business,  and 
the  equestrian  order,  driving  many  of  the  equites  over  to 
Caesar's  side.  Complete  harmony  between  the  senate  and 
the  knights,  as  Cicero  says,  was  the  only  thing  that  could 
have  saved  Rome  from  the  popular  party  and  Caesar. 
362 


BOOK  III.  xxii-xxiii 

can  be  expedient?  Furthermore,  can  hatred  and 
shame  be  expedient  for  any  government?  For 
government  ought  to  be  founded  upon  fair  fame 
and  the  loyalty  of  allies  ? 

On  this  point   I   often  disagreed  even  witli  my  (3)  Cato  and  the 

„  .        ,    _,  .  ,   ,  ,1,1  ,  •  publicans, 

friend  Cato ;  it  seemed  to  me  that  lie  was  too  rigor- 

ous   in    his    watchful    care   over  the  claims  of  the 

treasury  and  the  revenues;  he  refused  everything 

that  the  farmers  of  the  revenue  asked  for  and  much 

that  the  alHes  desired;  whereas,  as  I  insisted,  it  was 

our  duty  to  be  generous  to  the  alHes  and  to  treat 

tlie  pubHcans  as  we  were  accustomed  individually  to 

treat  our  tenants — and  all  the  more,  because  harmony 

between  the  orders  was  essential  to  the  welfare  of 

tlie    repubHc^     Curio,   too,    was    wrong,  when    he  (4)  Cudo  and 

pleaded  that  the  demands  of  the  people  beyond  the 

Po  were  just,  but  never  failed  to  add     Let  expedi- 

ency  prevail."     He  ought  rather  to   have  proved 

that  the  claims  were  not  just,  because  they  were 

not  expedient  for  the  repubHc,  than  to  have  admitted 

that  they  were  just,  when,  as  he  maintained,  they 

were  not  expedient. 

XXIII.  The  sixth  book  of  Hecaton's  Moral  Hecaton  debate 
Duties"  is  full  of  questions  Hke  the  foHowing:  "is  expedien"r°^ 
it  consistent  with  a  good  man's  duty  to  let  his  slaves  "«• 

,  1  ..  ,    o       •  .«.jj       moralrectitude, 

go  hungry  when  provisions  are  at  lamme  prices? 

Hecaton  gives  the  arguments  on  both  sides  of  the 
question ;  but  still  in  the  end  it  is  by  the  standard  of 
expediency,  as  he  conceives  it,  rather  than  by  one  of 
human  feeHng,  that  he  decides  the  question  of  duty. 

Then  lie  raises  this  question :  supposing  a  man 
had  to  throw  part  of  his  cargo  overboard  in  a  storm, 
should  he  prefer  to  sacrifice  a  high-priced  horse  or  a 
cheap  and  worthless  slave  ?     In  this  case  regard  for 

363 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
tiosi  potius  iacturam  faciat  an  servoli  vilis.     Hic  alio 
res  familiaris,  alio  ducit  Immanitas. 

Si  tabulam  de  naufragio  stultus  arripuerit^  ex- 
torquebitne  eam  sapiens,  si  potuerit?" 
Negat,  quia  sit  iniurium. 

Quid?  dominus  navis  eripietne  suum?" 

Minime,    non    plus   quam   navigantem^   in   alto 
eicere  de   navi    velit,    quia   sua   sit.     Quoad  enim 
perventum  est"  eo,  quo  sumpta  navis  est,  non  domini 
est  navis,  sed  navigantium." 
90  Quid?    si    una   tabula  sit,   duo  naufragi,   eique 

sapientes,    sibine    utergMC^    rapiat,    an    alter    cedat 
alteri?" 

Cedat  vero,  sed  ei,  cuius  magis  intersit  vel  sua 
vcl  rei  publicae  causa  vivere." 

Quid,  si  haec  paria  in  utroque?" 

Nullum  erit  certamen,  sed  quasi  sorte  aut  mi- 
cando  victus  alteri  cedet  alter." 

Quid?   si  pater  fana  expilet,  cuniculos  agat  ad 
aerarium,  indicetne  id  magistratibus  filius?" 

Nefas  id  quidem  est,  quin  etiam  defendat  pa- 
trem,  si  arguatur." 

Non  igitur  patria  praestat  omnibus  officiis?" 

^  quayn  navigantem  Heus.,  Edd. ;  guam  si  naz^iifan/em 
MSS. 
'esi  c,  Nonius  ;  sif  B  H  a  b. 

^sibine  uterque  Victorius,  Edd.;  sihi  ncuier  MSS. 
3Q)\ 


BOOK  111.  xxiii 

his  property  interest  inclines  him  one  way,  human 
feeling  the  other. 

"  Suppose  that  a  foolish  man  has  seized  hold  of  a 
plank  from  a  sinking  ship,  shall  a  wise  man  wrest  it 
away  from  him  if  he  can  ?" 

'' No/'  says  Hecaton;  for  that  Avould  be  un- 
just." 

"But  how  about  the  owner  of  the  ship?  Shall 
he  take  the  plank  away  because  it  belongs  to  him?" 

"Notatall;  no  more  than  he  would  be  willing 
when  far  out  at  sea  to  throw  a  passenger  overboard 
on  the  ground  tliat  the  ship  was  his.  For  until  they 
reach  the  place  for  which  the  ship  is  chartered^  she 
belongs  to  the  passengers,  not  to  the  OAvner." 

"  Again;  suppose  there  were  two  to  be  saved  from 
the  sinking  ship— both  of  them  Mdse  men — and  only 
one  small  plank,  should  both  seize  it  to  save  them- 
selves?     Or  should  one  give  place  to  the  other?" 

"Why  of  course^  one  should  give  place  to  the 
other,  but  that  other  must  be  the  one  whose  life  is 
more  valuable  either  for  his  own  sake  or  for  that  of 
liis  country." 

"But  what  if  these  considerations  are  of  equal 
weight  in  both?" 

'"Then  there  will  be  no  contest,  but  one  will  give 
place  to  the  other,  as  if  the  point  were  decided  by 
lot  or  at  a  game  of  odd  and  even." 

"  Again,  suppose  a  father  were  robbing  temples  or 
making  underground  passages  to  the  treasuiy,  should 
a  son  inform  the  ofncers  of  it?" 

"Nay ;  that  were  a  crime ;  rather  should  he  defend 
his  father,  in  case  he  were  indicted." 

"  Well,  then,  are  not  the  claims  of  country  para- 
mount  to  all  other  duties?" 

S65 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Immo  vero,  sed  ipsi  patriae  conducit  pios  habere 
cives  in  parentes." 

Quid?  si  tyrannidem  occupare,  si  patriam  pro- 
dere  conabitur  pater,  silebitne  filius?" 

Immo  vero  obsecrabit  patrem,  ne  id  faciat.  Si 
nihil  proficiet,  accusabit,  minabitur  etiam,  ad  extre- 
mum,  si  ad  perniciem  patriae  res  spectabit,  patriae 
salutem  anteponet  saluti  patris." 

91  Quaerit  etiam,  si  sapiens  adulterinos  nummos 
acceperit  imprudens  pro  bonis,  cum  id  rescierit, 
soluturusne  sit  eos,  si  cui^  debeatj  pro  bonis.  Dio- 
genes  ait,  Antipater  negat,  cui  potitis  assentior. 

Qui  vinum^  fugiens  vendat  sciens,  debeatne 
dicere.  Non  necesse  putat  DiogeneSj  Antipater  viri 
boni  existimat.  Haec  sunt  quasi  controversa  iura 
Stoicorum.  In    mancipio    vendendo    dicendane 

vitia,  non  ea,  quae  nisi  dixeris,  redhibeatur  manci- 
pium  iure  civih,  sed  haec,  mendacem  esse,  aleatorem, 
furacem,  ebriosum?"  Alteri  dicenda  videntur, 
alteri  non  videntur. 

92  Si  quis  aurum  vendens  orichalcum  se  putet 
vendere,  indicetne  ei  vir  bonus  aurum  illud  esse  an 
emat  denario,  quod  sit  mille  denarium?" 

Perspicuum  est  iam,  et  quid  mihi  videatur,  et 
quae  sit  inter  eos  philosophos,  quos  nominavi,  con- 
troversia. 

^si  cui  c,  Noniiis,  Edd.;  sicui  B  H  a  b. 
*vinum  c,  Nonius,  Edd.;  venenum  B  H  a  b  p. 

»  The  denarius  was  worth  at  this  time  about  ninepence. 
366 


BOOK  III.  xxiii 

Aye,  verily ;  but  it  is  to  our  country's  interest  to 
have  citizens  who  are  loyal  to  their  parents." 

But  once  more — if  the  father  attempts  to  make 
himself  king,  or  to  betray  his  country,  shall  the  son 
hold  his  peace?" 

Nay,  verily ;  he  will  plead  with  his  father  not  to 
do  so.  If  that  accomplishes  nothing,  he  will  take 
him  to  task ;  he  will  even  threaten ;  and  in  the  end, 
if  things  point  to  the  destruction  of  the  state^  he 
will  sacrifice  his  father  to  the  safety  of  his  country." 

Again^  he  raises  the  question :      If  a  wise  man  a  simiiar  debate 
should  inadvertently  accept  counterfeit  money  for  ^^  Dwgenes 
good^  will  he  offer  it  as  genuine  in  payment  of  a  Antipater. 
debt   after  he  discovers  his   mistake?"     Diogenes 
says      Yes";    Antipater,  "No/'   and    I   agree  with 
him. 

If  a  man  knowingly  offers  for  sale  wine  that  is 
spoiHng,  ought  he  tell  his  customers?  Diogenes 
thinks  that  it  is  not  required ;  Antipater  holds  that 
an  honest  man  would  do  so.  These  are  Uke  so 
many  points  of  the  law  disputed  among  the  Stoics. 
'  In  selHng  a  slave,  should  his  faults  be  declared — 
not  those  only  which  the  seller  is  bound  by  the  civil 
law  to  declare  or  liave  the  slave  returned  to  him,  but 
also  the  fact  that  he  is  untruthful,  or  disposed  to 
gamble,  or  steal^  or  get  drunk?"  The  one  thinks 
such  facts  should  be  declared,  the  other  does  not. 

If  a  man  thinks  that  he  is  selHng  brass,  when  he 
is  actually  selling  gold,  should  an  upright  man  inform 
him  that  his  stuff  is  gold,  or  go  on  buying  for  one 
shilHng*  what  is  worth  a  thousand?  " 

It  is  clear  enough  by  this  time  what  my  views  are 
on  these  questions,  and  what  are  the  grounds  of 
dispute  between  the  above-named  philosophers. 

367 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
XXIV.  Pacta  et  promissa  semperne  servanda  sint, 
QUAE  NEC  VI  NEC  DOLo  MALo,  ut  praetores  solent,  facta 

SINT. 

Si  quis  medicamentum  cuipiam  dederit  ad  aquam 
intercutem  pepigeritque,  si  eo  medicamento  sanus 
factus  esset,  ne  illo  medicamento  umquam  postea 
uteretur,  si  eo  medicamento  sanus  factus  sit  et 
annis  aliquot  post  iiiciderit  in  eundem  morbum  nec 
ab  eo,  quicum  pepigerat,  impetret^  ut  iterum  eo  ^  liceat 
uti,  quid  faciendum  sit.  Cum  sit  is  inhumanus,  qui 
non  concedat,  nec  ei  quicquam  fiat  iniuriae,  vitae  e*" 
saluti  consulendum. 
93  Quid?  si  qui  sapiens  rogatus  sit  ab  eo,  qui  eum 
heredem  faciat,  cum  ei  testaraento  sestertium  mihes 
relinquatur,  ut,  ante  quam  hereditatem  adeat,  luoe 
palam  in  foro  saltet,  idque  se  faoturum  promiserit, 
quod  aliter  heredem  eum  scripturus  ille  noii  esset, 
faciat,  quod  promiserit,  necne?  Promisisse  nollem 
et  id  arbitror  fuisse  gravitatis ;  quoniam  promisit,  si 
saltare  in  foro  turpe  ducet,  honestius  mentietur,  si 
ex  hereditate  niliil  ceperit,  quam  si  ceperit,  nisi  forte 
'  iterum  eo  Pearcc,  Edd. ;  item  eoV>  H  a  b;  item  tum  c, 


•  Approximately  ^750,000. 
S68 


BOOK  III.  xxiv 

XXIV.  The  question  arises  also  whether  agree- i^omises  not 
ments  and  promises  must  always  be  kept,  "when/'  ji" wheii  life  or 
in  the  language  of  the  praetors'  edicts,  "they  have  heaithisat 
not  been  secured  through  force  or  criminal  fraud."  ' 

If  one  man  gives  another  a  remedy  for  the  dropsy, 
with  the  stipulation  that,  if  he  is  cured  by  it,  he 
shall  never  make  use  of  it  again;  suppose  the 
patient's  health  is  restored  by  the  use  of  it  but  some 
years  later  he  contracts  the  same  disease  once  more ; 
and  suppose  he  cannot  secure  from  the  man  with 
whom  he  made  the  agreement  permission  to  use  the 
remedy  again,  what  should  he  do?  That  is  the 
question.  Since  the  man  is  unfeeHng  in  refusing 
the  request,  and  since  no  harm  could  be  done  to 
him  by  his  friend's  using  the  remedy,  the  sick  man 
is  justified  in  doing  what  he  can  for  his  own  Ufe  and 
health. 

Again :  suppose  that  a  millionaire  is  making  some  (2)  when  reputa 
wise  man  his  heir  and  leaving  him  in  his  will  a  **°°'^^'^'^''*' 
hundred  million  sesterces^;  and  suppose  that  he  has 
asked  the  wise  man,  before  he  enters  upon  his  in- 
heritance,  to  dance  publicly  in  broad  dayhght  in  the 
forum ;  and  suppose  that  the  wise  man  has  given  his 
promise  to  do  so,  because  the  rich  man  would  not 
leave  him  his  fortune  on  any  other  condition ;  should 
he  keep  his  promise  or  not?  I  wish  he  had  made 
no  such  promise ;  that,  I  think,  would  have  been  in 
keeping  with  his  dignity.  But  seeing  that  he  has 
made  it,  it  will  be  morally  better  for  him,  if  he 
believes  it  morally  wrong  to  dance  in  the  forum,  to 
break  his  promise  and  refuse  to  accept  his  inheri- 
tance  rather  than  to  keep  his  promise  and  accept  it 
— unless,  perhaps,  he  contributes  the  money  to  the 
state  to  meet  some  grave  crisis.  In  that  case,  to 
BB  369 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

^am  pecuniam  in  rei  publicae  magnum  aliquod  tem- 
pus  contuleritj  ut  vel  saltare,  cum  patriae  consulturus 
sit,  turpe  non  sit. 

94  XXV.  Ac  ne  illa  quidem  promissa  servanda  sunt, 
quae  non  sunt  iis  ^  ipsis  utilia^  quibus  illa  promiseris. 
Sol  Phaethonti  filio,  ut  redeamus  ad  fabulas,  factu- 
rum  se  esse  dixit,  quicquid  optasset;  optavit,  ut  in 
currum  patris  tolleretur;  sublatus  est.  Atque^  is^ 
ante  quam  constitit,  ictu  fulminis  deflagravit. 
Quanto  melius  fuerat  in  hoc  promissum  patris  non 
esse  servatum !  Quid,  quod  Theseus  exegit  promis- 
sum  a  Neptuno?  cui  cum  tres  optationes  Neptunus 
dedisset,  optavit  interitum  Hippolyti  filii,  cum  is 
patri  suspectus  esset  de  noverca;  quo  optato  impe- 

95  trato  Theseus  in  maximis  fuit  luctibus.  Quid, 
quod^  Agamemnon  cum  devovisset  Dianae,  quod  in 
suo  regno  pulcherrimum  natum  esset  illo  anno,  im- 
molavit  Iphigeniam,  qua  nihil  erat  eo  quidem  anno 
natum  pulchrius?  Promissum  potius  non  faciendum 
quam  tam  taetrum  facinus  admittendum  fuit. 

Ergo  et  promissa  non  facienda  non  numquam, 
neque  semper  deposita  reddenda.  Si  gladium  quis 
apud  te  sana  mente  deposuerit,  repetat  insaniens, 
reddere  peccatum  sit,  officium  non  reddere.  Quid  ? 
si  is,  qui  apud  te  pecuniam  deposuerit,  bellum  inferat 
patriae,  reddasne  depositum?     Non  credo;  fecias* 

'  iis  Edd. ;  his  B  H  a  b  ;  hi/s  c. 

*Atgue  MSS.,  Bt.\  Miiller,  Heine;  AiquiYL,  Bt.«,  Ed. 

•  guod  Ed. ;  not  in  MSS. ,  Bt. ,  et  al. 

*facias  c,  Bt.,  Ed.,  Heine  ;  facies  A  B  H  a  b,  Muller. 


BOOK  III.  xxiv-xxv 

promote  thereby  the  interests  of  one's  counlry,  it 
would  not  be  morally  wrong  even  to  dancej  if  you 
please,  in  the  forum. 

XXV.  No  more  binding  are  those  promises  which  (3)  when  not 
are  inexpedient  for  the  persons  themselves  to  whom  hm^o^whom 
they  have  been  given.  To  go  back  to  the  realm  of  j^^^™^'^^ 
story,  the  sungod  promised  his  son  Phaethon  to  do 
for  him  whatever  he  should  wish.  His  wish  was  to 
be  allowed  to  ride  in  his  father's  chariot.  It  was 
granted.  And  before  he  came  back  to  the  ground 
he  was  consumed  by  a  stroke  of  lightning.  How 
much  better  had  it  been,  if  in  his  case  the  father's 
promise  had  not  been  kept.  And  what  of  that 
promise,  the  fulfilment  of  which  Theseus  requix*ed 
from  Neptune  ?  When  Neptune  ofFered  him  three 
wishes,  he  wished  for  the  death  of  his  son  Hippoly- 
tus,  because  the  father  was  suspicious  of  the  son's 
relations  with  his  step-mother.  And  when  this  wish 
was  granted,  Theseus  was  overwhelmed  with  grief. 
And  once  more;  when  Agamemnon  had  vowed  to 
Diana  the  most  beautiful  creature  born  that  year 
within  his  realm,  he  was  brought  to  sacrifice  Iphi- 
genia;  for  in  that  year  nothing  was  born  more 
beautiful  than  she.  He  ought  to  have  broken  his 
vow  rather  than  commit  so  horrible  a  crime. 

Promises  are,  therefore,  sometimes  not  to  be  kept ;  Trusts  not 
and  trusts  are  not  always  to  be  restored.  Suppose  restored"  ^ 
that  a  person  leaves  his  sword  with  you  when  he  is 
in  his  right  mind,  and  demands  it  back  in  a  fit  of 
insanity ;  it  would  be  criminal  to  restore  it  to  him ; 
it  would  be  your  duty  not  to  do  so.  Again,  suppose 
that  a  man  who  has  entrusted  money  to  you  proposes 
to  make  war  upon  your  common  country,  should  you 
restore  the  trust?  I  believe  you  should  not;  for 
bb2  371 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
enini  contra  rem  publicamj  qiiae  debet  esse  carissima 
Sic  multa,  quae  honesta  natura  videntur  esse^  tem- 
poribus  fiunt  non  honesta ;  facere  promissa,  stare  con- 
ventis,  reddere  deposita  commutata  utilitate  fiunt 
non  honesta. 

Ac  de  iis  quidem,  quae  videntur  esse  utihtates 
contra  iustitiam  simulatione  prudentiae,  satis  arbitror 
dictum. 

96  Sed  quoniam  a  quattuor  fontibus  honestatis  primo 
§§  15  ff.  libro  officia  duximus,  in  eisdem  versemur,  cum  doce- 
II 71-95  ^i"^"S  ea,  quae  videantur  esse  utilia  neque  sint,  quam 

sint  virtutis  inimica.  Ac  de  prudentia  quidem,  quam 
vult  imitari  malitia,  itemque  de  iustitia,  quae  semper 
est  utilis,  disputatum  est.  ReHquae  sunt  duae  partes 
honestatis,  quarum  altera  in  animi  excellentis  ma- 
gnitudine  et  praestantia  cernitur,  altera  in  conforma- 
tione  et  moderatione  continentiae  et  temperantiae. 

97  XXVI.  Utile  videbatur  Ulixi,  ut  quidem  poetae 

tragici  prodiderunt  (nam  apud  Homerum,  optimum 

auctorem,  talis  de  Ulixe  nulla  suspicio  est),  sed  in- 

simulant  eum  tragoediaesimulatione  insaniae  militiam 

subterfugere  voluisse.     Non  honestura  consilium,  at 

utile,  ut  aliquis  fortasse  dixerit,  regnare  et  Ithacae 

vivere  otiose  cum  parentibus,  cum  uxore,  cum  filio. 
372 


BOOK  III.  xxv-xxvi 

you  would  be  acting  against  the  state,  which  ought 
to  be  the  dearest  thing  in  the  world  to  you.  Thus 
there  are  many  things  which  in  and  of  themselves 
seem  morally  right,  but  which  under  certain  circum- 
stances  prove  to  be  not  morally  right:  to  keep  a 
promise,  to  abide  by  an  agreement,  to  restore  a 
trust^may^  with  a  change  of  expediency,  cease  to  be 
morally  right. 

With  this  I  think  I  have  said  enough  about  those 
actions  which  masquerade  as  expedient  under  the 
guise  of  prudence,  jwhile  they  are  really  contraryjto 
justice. 

Since,  however,  in  Book  One  we  derived  moral 
duties  from  the  four  sources  of  moral  rectitude,  let  us 
continue  the  same  fourfold  division  here  in  pointing 
out  how  hostile  to  virtue  are  those  courses  of  con- 
duct  which  seem  to  be,  but  really  are  not,  expedient. 
We  have  discussed  wisdom,  which  cunning  seeks  to 
counterfeit,  and  Hkewise  justice,  which  is  always 
expedient.  There  remain  for  our  discussion  two 
divisions  of  moral  rectitude,  the  one  of  which  is 
discernible  in  the  greatness  and  pre-eminence  of  a 
superior  soul,  the  other,  in  the  shaping  and  regula- 
tion  of  it  by  temperance  and  self-control. 

XXVI.    Ulysses   thought  hts  ruse  expedient,  as  ApparentExpe 
the  tragic  poets,  at  least,  have  represented  him.     In  ^'^^'^^vs. 
Homer,  our  most  reliable  authority,  no  such  suspicion  f,  w'n"!^®", 
is  cast  upon  him ;  but  the  tragedies  charge  him  with  ruse, 
trying  to  escape  a  soldier's  service  by  feigning  mad- 
ness.     The  trick  was  not  morally  right,  but,  some 
one  may  perhaps  say,  "  It  was  expedient  for  him  to 
keep  his   throne  and   live  at  ease  in   Ithaca  with 
parents,  wife,  and  son.     Dc  you  think  that  there 

373 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

Ullum  tu  decus  in  cotidianis  laboi-ibus  et  pericuns 
cum  hac  tranquillitate  conferendum  putas  ? 

Ego  vero   istam   contemnendam   et  abiciendam, 
quoniam,  quae  honesta  non  sit,  ne  utilem  quidem 

98  esse  arbitror.  Quid  enim  auditurum  putas  fuisse  Uli- 
xem,  si  in  illa  simulatione  perseveravisset  ?  qui  cum  ma- 
ximas  res  gesserit  in  bello,tamenhaec  audiat  ab  Aiace: 

(Accius  or  Cuius  ipse  princeps  iiiris  iurandi  fuit, 

judkTum'  Quod  (Smnes  scitis,  solus  neglexit  fidem; 

Armonim?)         Furcre  assimulare,  n^  coiret,  institit. 
Ribbecka    '        Quodni  Palamedi  perspicax  prudentia 
^^'^  Istius  percepset^  malitiosam  audaciam, 

Fid6  sacratae^  ius  perpetuo  falleret. 

99  Illi  vero  non  modo  cum  hostibus,  verum  etiam  cura 
fluctibus,  id  quod  fecit,  dimicare  melius  fuit  quam 
deserere  consentientem  Graeciam  ad  bellum  barbaris 
inferendum. 

Sed  omittamus  et  fabulas  et  externa;  ad  rem 
factam  nostramque  veniamus.  /  M.  Atilius  Regulus 
cum  consul  iterum  in  Africa  ex  insidiis  captus  esset 
duce  Xanthippo  Lacedaemonio,  imperatore  autem 
patre  Hannibalis  Hamilcare,  iuratus  missus  est  ad 
senatum,  ut,  nisi  redditi  essent  Poenis  captivi  nobiles 
quidam,  rediret  ipse  Carthaginem.     Is  cum  Romam 

^ percepset  Bt.,  Ed.,  Heine  ;  percepisset  MSS. ;  perspexet 
MuUer.  •  sacratae  Edd. ;  sacrata  B  H  a  b ;  sacratum  c. 

a  Cicero  is  careless  in  his  dates.  Regulus  was  consul  in 
267  and  256.  He  was  defeated  and  taken  prisoner  in  his 
second  proconsulship  at  the  battle  of  Tunes  in  255.  And  the 
Hamilcar  of  255  was  not  Hannibars  father,  for  his  career 
does  not  begin  until  247,  when  he  wasa  mereyouth,  and  he 
was  still  in  his  prime  when  he  feli  in  battle  in  Spain,  in  229. 

bAt  the  battle  of  Panormus  in  250  Lucius  Caecilius 
Metellus  took  among  the  prisoners  no  less  than  thirteen 
Carthag^inian  generals — all  men  of  noble  birth. 


/     BOOK  III.  xxvi 

y 
is  any  glory  in  facing  daily  toil  and  danger  that  can 
b^  compared  with  a  life  of  such  tranquillity  ?  " 

Nay ;  I  think  that  tranquillity  at  such  a  price  is  to 
be  despised  and  rejected;  for  if  it  is  not  morally 

98  right,  neither  is  it  expedient.  For  what  do  you 
think  would  have  been  said  of  Ulysses,  if  he  hac . 
persisted  in  that  pretended  madness,  seeing  that, 
notwithstanding  his  deeds  of  heroism  in  the  war,  he 
was  nevertheless  upbraided  by  Ajax  thus : 

"  'Twas  he  himself  who  first  proposed  the  oath ; 

ye  all 
Do  know ;  yet  he  alone  of  all  his  vow  did  break ; 
He  feigned  persistently  that  he  was  mad,  that 

thus 
He  might  not  have  to  join  the  host.  And  had  not 

then 
Palamedes,  shrewd  and  wise,  his  tricky  impu- 

dence 
Unmasked,  he  had  evaded  e'en  for  aye  his  vow." 

99  Nay,  for  him  it  had  been  better  to  battle  not  only 
with  the  enemy  but  also  with  the  waves,  as  he  did, 
than  to  desert  Greece  when  she  was  united  for 
waging  the  war  against  the  barbai*ians. 

But  let  us  leave  illustrations  both  from  story  and 
from  foreign  lands  and  turn  to  real  events  in  our  own 
historyyfMarcus  Atiiius  Regulus  in  his  second  con-  (2)  the  exampie 
sulship  was  taken  prisoner  in  Africa  by  the  stratagem 
of  Xanthippus,  a  Spartan  general  serving  under 
the  command  of  HannibaVs  father  Hamilcar.*  He 
was  sent  to  the  senate  on  parole,  sworn  to  return 
to  Carthage  himself,  if  certain  noble  prisoners  of 
war''  were  not  restored  to  the  Carthaginians.  When 
he   came   to  Rome,  he  could  not  fail   to  see  the 

375 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
venisset,  utilitatis  speeiem  videbat,  sed  eam,  ut  rt^ 
declarat,  falsam  iudicavit ;  quae  erat  talis :  manere  in 
patria,  esse  domui  suae  cum  uxore,  cum  liberis,  quam 
calamitatem  accepisset  in  bello,  communem  fortunae 
bellicae  iudicantem  tenere  consularis  dignitatis  gra- 
dum.  Quis  haec  negat  esse  utilia?  quem  censes? 
100  Magnitudo  animi  et  fortitudo  negat.  XXVII.  Num' 
locupletiores  quaeris  auctores?  Harum  enim  est 
virtutum  proprium  nihil  extimescere,  omnia  humana 
despicere,  nihil,  quod  homini  accidere  possit,  intole- 
randum  putarei  Itaque  quid  fecit?  In  senatum 
venit,  mandata  exposuit,  sententiam  ne  diceret  re- 
cusavit,  quam  diu  iure  iurando  hostium  teneretur, 
non  esse  se  senatorem.  Atque  illud  etiam  (  O  stul- 
tum  hominem,"  dixerit  quispiam,  et  repugnantem 
utihtati  suae!"),  reddi  captivos  negavit  esse  utile; 
illos  enim  adulescentes  esse  et  bonos  duces,  se  iam 
confectum  senectute.  Cuius  cum  valuisset  auctori- 
tas,  captivi  retenti  sunt,  ipse  Carthaginem  rediit, 
neque  eum  caritas  patriae  retinuit  nec  suorum. 
Neque  vero  tum  ignorabat  se  ad  crudehssimum 
hostem  et  ad  exquisita  supplicia  proficisci,  sed  ius 
iurandum  conservandum  putabat.     Itaque  tum,  cura 


876 


'  num  A  L  c,  Edd. ;  nam  B  H  a  b. 


BOOK  III.  xxvi-xxvii 

specious  appearance  of  expediency,  but  he  decided 
that  it  was  unreal,  as  the  outcome  proves.  His  ap- 
parent  interest  was  to  remain  in  his  own  country,  to 
stay  at  home  with  his  wife  and  childrenj  and  to 
retain  his  rank  and  dignity  as  an  ex-consul,  regarding 
the  defeat  which  he  had  sufFered  as  a  misfortune 
that  might  come  to  anyone  in  the  game  of  war. 
Who  says  that  this  was  not  expedient  ?  Who,  think 
you  ?  Greatness  of  soul  and  courage  say  that  it  was 
not.  XXVII.  Can  you  ask  for  more  competent  The  violation 
authorities  ?  The  denial  comes  from  those  virtues,  l^J^  ^l\  jjave 
for  it  is  characteristic  of  them  to  await  nothing  }'o^j''hirn^^'^'^°* 
with  fear,  to  rise  superior  to  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
earthly  life,  and  to  count  nothing  intolerable  that 
can  befall  a  human  being.  W^hat,  then,  did  he  do  ? 
He  came  into  the  senate  and  stated  his  mission; 
but  he  refused  to  give  his  own  vote  on  the  question; 
for,  he  held,  hewas  not  a  member  of  the  senate  so 
long  as  he  was  bound  by  the  oath  sworn  to  his 
enemies.  And  more  than  that,  he  said —  What  a 
fooHsh  fellow,"  some  one  will  say,  to  oppose  his 
own  best  interests  " — he  said  that  it  was  not  ex- 
pedient  that  the  prisoners  should  be  returned ;  for 
they  were  young  men  and  gallant  officers,  while  he 
was  already  bowed  with  age.  And  when  his  counsel 
prevailed,  the  prisoners  were  retained  and  he  him- 
self  returned  to  Carthage  ;  affection  for  his  country 
and  his  family  failed  to  hold  him  back.  And  even 
then  he  was  not  ignorant  of  the  fact  that  he  was 
going  to  a  most  cruel  enemy  and  to  exquisite  torture  ; 
still,  he  thought  his  oath  must  be  sacredly  kept. 
And  so  even  then,  when  he  was  being  slowly  put  to 
death  by  enforced  wakefulness,  he  enjoyed  a  happier 

377 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
vigilando  necabatur,  erat  in  meliore  causa,  quam  si 
domi  senex  captivus,  periurus  consularis  remansisset. 

101  At  stulte,  qui  non  modo  non  censuerit  captivos 
remittendos,  verum  etiam  dissuaserit. 

Quo  modo  stulte?  etiamne,  si  rei  publicae  con- 
ducebat?  potest  autem,  quod  inutile  rei  publicae 
sit,  id  cuiquam  civi  utile  esse? 

XXVIII.  Pervertunt  homines  ea,  quae  sunt  funda- 
menta  naturae,  cum  utilitatem  ab  honestate  seiun- 
gunt.  Omnes  enim  expetimus  utiUtatem  ad  eamque 
rapimur  nec  facere  aUter  ullo  modo  possumus.  Nam 
quis  est,  qui  utilia  fugiat  ?  aut  quis  potius,  qui  ea  non 
studiosissime  persequatur?  Sed  quia  nusquam  pos- 
sumus  nisi  in  laude,  decore,  honestate  utilia  reperire, 
propterea  illa  prima  et  summa  habemus,  utiUtatis 
nomen  non  tam  splendidum  quam  necessarium  duci- 
mus. 

102  Quid  est  igitur,  dixerit  quis,  in  iure  iurando? 
num  iratum  timemus  lovem  ?  At  hoc  quidem  com- 
mune  est  omnium  philosophorum,  non  eorum  modo, 
qui  deum  nihil  habere  ipsum  negotii  dicunt,  nihil 
exhibere  alteri,  sed  eorum  etiam,  qui  deum  semper 
agere  aliquid  et  moUri  volunt,  numquam  nec  irasci 
deum  nec  nocere.     Quid  autem  iratus  luppiter  plus 


«The  Epicureans. 
bThe.Stoics. 


378 


BOOK  III.  xxvii-xxviii 

lot  than  if  he  had  remained  at  home  an  aged  prisoner 
of  war,  a  man  of  consular  rank  forsworn. 

101  But/'  you  will  say,     it  was  fooHsh  of  him  not 

only  not  to  advocate  the  exchange  of  prisoners  but 
even  to  plead  against  such  action." 

How  was  it  foolish  ?  Was  it  so,  even  if  his  policy 
was  for  the  good  of  the  state  ?  Nay ;  can  what  is 
inexpedient  for  the  state  be  expedient  for  any  indi- 
vidual  citizen? 

XXVIII.  People  overturn  the  fundamental  prin-  Expediency 
ciples  estabhshed  by  nature,  when  they  divorce  morafrtctUudr 
expediency  from  moral  rectitude.  For  we  all  seek 
to  obtain  what  is  to  us  expedient ;  we  are  irresistibly 
drawn  toward  it,  and  we  cannot  possibly  be  other- 
wise.  For  who  is  there  that  would  turn  his  back 
upon  what  is  to  him  expedient?  Or  rather^  who  is 
there  that  does  not  exert  himself  to  the  utmost  to 
secure  it?  But  because  we  cannot  discover  it  any- 
where  except  in  good  report,  propriety,  and  moral 
rectitudCj  we  look  upon  these  three  for  that  reason 
as  the  first  and  the  highest  objects  of  endeavour, 
while  what  we  term  expediency  we  account  not  so 

f     much  an  ornament  to  our  dignity  as  a  necessary 
incident  to  living. 

02  What  significance,  then,"  some  one  will  say,  Arguments 

"do  we  attach  to  an  oath?     It  is  not  that  we  fear  StyK"'*' 
the  wrath  of  Jove,  is  it?     Not  at  all;  it  is  the  uni-  °^'^= 
versally  accepted  view  of  all  philosophers  that  God  need  to  fear 
is  never  angry,  never  hurtful.     This  is  the  doctrine  '^°'^'^  wrath, 
not  only  of  those*  who  teach  that  God  is  Himself 
free  from  troubhng  cares  and  that  He  imposes  no 
trouble  upon  others,  but  also  of  those''  who  believe 
that  God  is  ever  working  and   ever  directing  His 
world.  Furthermore,  suppose  Jupiter  had  been  wroth, 

379 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
nocere   potuisset,  quam  nocuit  sibi  ipse   Regulus  ? 
Nulla  igitur  vis  fuit  religionis,  quae  tantam  utilita- 
tem  perverteret. 

An  ne  turpiter  faceret  ?  Primum  minima  de  malis. 
Num^  igitur  tantum  mali  turpitudo  ista  habebat,^ 
quantum  ille  cruciatus?  Deinde  illud  etiam  apud 
Accium : 

^2,  ^  Fregistin^fidem? 

227-228  Neque  dedi  neque  do  infideli  cuiquam 

quamquam  ab  impio  rege  dicitur,  luculente  tamen 
dicitur. 

103  Addunt  etiam,  quem  ad  modum  nos  dicamus 
videri  quaedam  utilia,  quae  non  sint,  sic  se  dicere 
videri  quaedam  honesta,  quae  non  sint,  "ut  hoc 
ipsum  videtur  honestum,  conservandi  iuris  iurandi 
causa  ad  cruciatum  revertisse ;  sed  fit  non  honestum, 
quia,  quod  per  vim  hostium  esset  actum,  ratum  esse 
non  debuit." 

Addunt  etiam,  quicquid  valde  utile  sit,  id  fieri 
honestum,  etiamsi  antea  non  videretur. 

Haec  fere  contra  Regulum.  Sed  prima  quaeque^ 
videamus. 

104  XXIX.  Non  fuit  luppiter  metuendus  ne  iratus 
noceret,  qui  neque  irasci  solet  nec  nocere." 

^l^um  Edd.;  non  MSS. 
*  habebat  L  c,  Edd. ;  habebit  A  B  H  a  b. 
^ /reffistin  Edd. ;  fregistine  A  B  H  a  b ;  fregisti  L  c. 
*quaeque  Forchhammer,  Miiller,  Heine:  not  in  MSS.,  Bt.. 
Ed. 

380 


BOOK  III.  xxviii-xxix 

what  greater  injury  could  He  have  inflicted  upon 
ilegulus  than  Regulus  brought  upon  himself  ?  Re- 
ligious  scruple,  therefore,  had  no  such  preponderance 
as  to  outweigh  so  great  expediency." 

'^Or  was  he  afraid  that  his  act  would  be  morally  (2)"Oftwo 
wrong?     As  to  that,  first  of  all,  the  proverb  says  felf""^""'' ^^' 
*  Of  evils  choose  the  least.'     Did  that  moral  wrong, 
then,  really  involve  as  great  an  evil  as  did  that  awful 
torture  ?  And  secondly,  there  are  the  hnes  of  Accius : 

Thyestes.     Hast  thou  broke  thy  faith  ? ' 
Atreus.        None  have  I  giv'n;  none  give  I  ever  to 
the  faithless.' 

Although  this  sentiment  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  a 
wicked  king,  still  it  is  illuminating  in  its  correct- 
ness." 

Their  third  argument  is  this:  just  as  we  maintain  (3)oaths 
that  some  things  seem  expedient  but  are  not,  so  constrafnt  not 
they  maintain,  some  things  seem  morally  right  but  binding. 
are  not.         For  example/'  they  contend,      in  this 
very  case  it  seems  morally  right  for  Regulus  to  have 
returned  to  torture  for  the  sake  of  being  true  to  his 
oath.     But  it  proves  not  to  be  morally  right,  because 
what  an  enemy  extorted  by  force  ought  not  to  have 
been  binding." 

As  their  concluding  argument,  they  add:  what-  (4)exceptionai 
ever  is  highly  expedient  may  prove  to  be  morally  ma^kes  dg^ht. 
right,  even  if  it  did  not  seem  so  in  advance. 

These  are  in  substance  the  arguments  raised 
against  the  conduct  of  Regulus.  Let  us  consider 
them  each  in  turn. 

XXIX.      He   need   not   have   been   afraid   that  Rebuttai. 
Jupiter  in  anger  would  inflict  injury  upon  him;  he 
is  not  wont  to  be  angry  or  hurtful." 

S81 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
Haec  quidem  ratio  non  magis  contra  Reguli  quam 
contra  omne  ius  iurandum  valet.  Sed  in  iure  iurando 
non  qui  metus,  sed  quae  vis  sit,  debet  intellegi;  est 
enim  ius  iurandum  affirmatio  religiosa;  quod  autem 
affirmate  quasi  deo  teste  promiseris,  id  tenendum 
est.  lam  enim  non  ad  iram  deorum,  quae  nulla  est, 
sed  ad  iustitiam  et  ad  fidem  pertinet.  Nam  prae- 
clare  Ennius: 
(Thyestes?)       6  Fides  alma  apta  pinnis  6t  ius  iurandiim  lovis! 

Fab.  inc,, 

Vahiens,       Qui  ius  igitur  iurandum  violat,  is  Fidem  violat,  quam 
in  Capitolio     vicinam  lovis  optimi  maximi/'  ut  in 
Unknown      Catonis  oratione  est,  maiores  nostri  esse  voluerunt. 
105       At  enim  ne  iratus  quidem  luppiter  plus  Rcgulo 
nocuisset,  quam  sibi  nocuit  ipse  Regulus. 

Certe,  si  nihil  malum  esset  nisi  dolere.  Id  autem 
non  modo  [nonj  summum  malum,  sed  ne  malum 
quidem  esse  maxima  auctoritate  philosophi  affirmant. 
Quorum  quidem  testem  non  mediocrem,  sed  haud 
scio  an  gravissimum  Regulum  nolite,  quaeso,  vitu- 
perare.  Quem  enim  locupletiorem  quaerimus  quam 
principem  populi  Romani,  qui  retinendi  officii  causa 
cruciatum  subierit  voluntarium? 

Nam  quod  aiunt:      minima  de  malis,"  id  est  ut 

*  non  modo  non  B  H  a ;  non  modo  nos  c ;  non  modo  L  c  p, 
Edd. 

*  The  Stoics. 
88S 


BOOK  III.  xxix 

This  argument,  at  all  eventSj  has  no  more  weight  (i)  An  oath  is  s 
against  Regulus's  conduct  than  it  has  against  the  justke"an'd'''' 
keeping  of  any  other  oath.     But  in  taking  an  oath  Good  Faith; 
it  is  our  duty  to  consider  not  what  one  may  have  to 
fear  in  case  of  violation  but  wherein  its  obligation 
Ues:  an  oath  is  an  assurance  backed  by  rehgious 
sanctity ;  and  a  solemn  promise  given^  as  before  God 
as  one's  witness^  is  to  be  sacredly  kept.     For  the 
question  no  longer  concerns  the  wrath  of  the  gods 
(for  there  is  no  such  thing)  but  the  obhgations  of 
justice   and   good   faith.     For,  as   Ennius   says   so 
admirably : 

Gracious  Good  Faith,  on  wings  upborne; 
thou  oath  in  Jupiter's  great  name ! " 

Wlioever^  therefore,  violates  his  oath  violates  Good 
Faith ;  and,  as  we  find  it  stated  in  Cato's  speech,  our 
forefathers  chose  that  she  should  dwell  upon  the 
Cagitol    neighbour  to  Jupiter  Supreme  and  Best." 

But/'  objection  was  further  made,  "even  if 
Jupiter  had  been  angry,  he  could  not  have  inflicted 
greater  injury  upon  Regulus  than  Regulus  brought 
upon  himself." 

Quite  true,  if  there  is  no  evil  except  pain.  But  whatisevii? 
philosophers*  of  the  highest  authority  assure  us  that 
pain  is  not  only  not  the  supreme  evil  but  no  evil  at 
all.  And  pray  do  not  disparage  Regulus,  as  no  un- 
important  witness — nay,  I  am  rather  inchned  to 
think  he  was  the  very  best  witness — to  the  truth  of 
their  doctrine.  For  what  more  competent  witness 
do  we  ask  for  than  one  of  the  foremost  citizens  of 
Rome,  who  voluntarily  faced  torture  for  the  sake  of 
being  true  to  his  moral  duty? 

Again,  they  say  "Of  evils  choose  the  least" — 

388 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

turpiter  potius  quam  calamitose,  an  est  ullum  maius 
malum  turpitudiue?  quae  si  in  deformitate  corporis 
habet'  aliquid  ofFensionis,  quanta  illa  depravatio  et 

106  foeditas  turpificati  animi  debet  videril  Itaque  ner- 
vosius  qui  ista  disserunt,  solum  audent  malum  dicere 
id,  quod  turpe  sit,  qui  autem  remissius,  ii  tamen  non 
dubitant  summum  malum  dicere. 

Nam  illud  quidem : 

N^que  dedi  neque  do  infideli  cuiquam 
At^u*'     i<icirco  recte  a  poeta,  quia,  cum  tractaretur  Atreus, 
FUbbeckz  personae  serviendum  fuit.     Sed  si  hoc  sibi  sument, 
nuUam  esse  fidem,  quae  infideli  data  sit,  videant,  ne 
quaeratur  latebra  periurio. 

107  Est  autem  ius  etiam  bellicum  fidesque  iuris  iurandi 
saepe  cum  hoste  servanda.^  Quod  enim  ita  iuratum 
est,  ut  mens  conciperet  fieri  oportere,  id  servandum 
est;  quod  aliter,  id  si  non  fecerit,  nullum  est  periu- 
rium.  Ut,  si  praedonibus  pactum  pro  capite  pretium 
non  attuleris,  nulla  fraus  sit,^  ne  si  iuratus  quidem 
id  non  feceris;  nam  pirata  non  est  ex  perdueUium 
numero  definitus,  sed  communis  hostis  omnium ;  cum 
hoe  nec  fides  debet  nec  ius  iurandum  esse  commune. 

» habet  L  c,  Edd. ;  haheat  A  B  H  a  b. 

^  Est .  .  .  servanda  brackeled  by  Unger,  Bt.''',  Ed. 

8«VEdd.  plerique;  est  MSS.,  Bt.». 

«The  Stoics. 
bThe  Peripatetics. 

884 


BOOK  III.  xxix 

that  is,  shall  one  "  choose  moral  wrong  rather  than  (2)  no  evii  can 
misfortune/'  or  is  there  any  evil  greater  than  moral  moral  wrong^ 
wrong?     For  if  physical  deformity  excites  a  certain 
amount  of  aversion,  how  ofFensive  ought  the  defor- 
mity  and  hideousness  of  a  demoralized  soul  to  seem ! 

6  Therefore,  those^  who  discuss  these  problems  with 
more  rigour  make  bold  to  say  that  moral  wrong  is 
the  only  evii,  while  those''  who  treat  them  with 
more  laxity  do  not  hesitate  to  call  it  the  supreme 
evil. 

Once  more,  they  quote  the  sentiment: 

None  have  I  given,  none  give  I  ever  to  the 
faithless." 

It  was  proper  for  the  poet  to  say  that,  because,  when 
he  was  working  out  his  Atreus,  he  had  to  make  the 
words  fit  the  character.  But  if  they  mean  to  adopt 
it  as  a  principlCj  that  a  pledge  given  to  the  faithless 
is  no  pledge,  let  them  look  to  it  that  it  be  not  a  mere 
loophole  for  perjury  that  they  seek. 

7  FurthermorCj  we   have  laws  regulating  warfare,  What  is  per- 
and  fideUty  to  an  oath  must  often  be  observed  in  '""^^ 
deahngs  with  an  enemy :  for  an  oath  sworn  with  the 

clear  understanding  in  one's  own  mind  that  it  should 
be  performed  must  be  kept ;  but  if  there  is  no  such 
understanding,  it  does  not  count  as  perjury  if  one 
does  not  perform  the  vow.  For  example,  suppose 
that  one  does  not  deliver  the  amount  agreed  upon 
with  pirates  as  the  price  of  one's  Hfe,  that  would  be 
accounted  no  deception — not  even  if  one  should  fail 
to  deliver  the  ransom  after  having  sworn  to  do  so ; 
for  a  pirate  is  not  included  in  the  number  of  lawful 
enemies,  but  is  the  common  foe  of  all  the  world; 
and  with  him  there  ought  not  to  be  any  pledged 
cc  385 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

1 08  Non  enim  falsum  iurare  periurare  est,  sed^  quod  ex 
ANiMi  Tui  SENTENTiA  iuraris,  sicut  verbis  concipitur 
more  nostro,  id  non  facere  periurium  est.     Scite 

Hippoiytus  enim^  Euripides : 

luravi  lingua,  m^ntem  iniuratam  gero. 

Regulus  vero  non  debuit  condiciones  pactionesque 
bellicas  et  hostiles  perturbare  periurio.  Cum  iusto 
enim  et  legitimo  hoste  res  gerebatur,  adversus  quem 
et  totum  ius  fetiale  et  multa  sunt  iura  communia. 
Quod  ni  ita  esset,  numquam  claros  viros  senatus 
vinctos^  hostibus  dedidisset. 

109  XXX.  At  vero  T.  Veturius  et  Sp.  Postumius  cum 
iterum  consules  essent,  quia,  cum  male  pugnatum 
apud  Caudium  essetj  legionibus  nostris  sub  iugum 
missis  pacem  cum  Samnitibus  fecerant,  dediti  sunt 
iis ;  iniussu  enim  populi  senatusque  fecerant.  Eodem- 
que  tempore  Ti.  Numicius,  Q.  Maelius,  qui  tum 
tribuni  pl.  erant,  quod  eorum  auctoritate  pax  erat 
facta^  dediti  sunt,  ut  pax  Samnitium  repudiaretur ; 
atque  huius  deditionis  ipse  Postumius,  qui  dedeba- 
tur,  suasor  et  auctor  fuit. 

Quod  idem  multis  annis  post  C.  Mancinus,  qui,  ut 
Numantinis,  quibuscum  sine  senatus  auctoritate  foe- 
dus  fecerat,  dederetur,  rogationem  suasit  eam,  quam 

*  Scite  enim  A  L  c,  Edd. ;  scit  enim  B  H  a  b. 

*  vinctos  A  L  c,  Edd. ;  victos  B  H  a  b. 


"See  Index,  s.v. 
'>i84years,  i.e.,  in  B.c.  137, 

886 


BOOK  III.  xxix-xxx 

8  word  nor  any  oath  mutually  binding.  For  swearing 
to  what  is  false  is  not  necessarily  perjury,  but  to 
take  an  oath  upon  your  conscience,"  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed  in  our  legal  formulas^  and  then  fail  to  per- 
form  it,  that  is  perjury.     For  Euripides  aptly  says: 

My  tongue  has  sworn;    the  mind   I  have  has 
sworn  no  oath." 
But  Regulus  had  no  right  to  confound  by  perjury  Oathsmadeto 
the  terms  and  covenants  of  war  made  with  an  enemy.  bhiding  as^^ 
For  the  war  was  being  carried  on  with  a  legitimate,  treaties. 
declared  enemy ;  and  to  regulate  our  dealings  with 
such  an  enemy,  we  have  our  whole  fetial  ^  code  as 
well  as  many  other  laws  that  are  binding  in  common 
between  nations.  Were  this  not  the  case,  the  senate 
would  never  have  delivered  up  illustrious  men  of 
ours  in  chains  to  the  enemy. 

9  XXX.  And  yet  that  very  thing  happened.    Titus  Roman 
Veturius  and  Spurius  Postumius  in  their  second  con-  ^^"'='°^** 
sulship  lost  the  battle  at  the  Caudine  Forks,  and 

our  legions  were  sent  under  tlie  yoke.  And  because 
they  made  peace  with  the  Samnites,  those  generals 
were  delivered  up  to  them,  for  they  had  made 
the  peace  without  the  approval  of  the  people 
and  senate.  And  Tiberius  Numicius  and  Quintus 
MaeliuSj  tribunes  of  the  people,  were  delivered  up 
at  the  same  time,  because  it  was  with  their  sanction 
that  the  peace  had  been  concluded.  This  was  done 
in  order  that  the  peace  with  the  Samnites  might  be 
annuUed.  And  Postumius,  the  very  man  whose  de- 
livery  was  in  question,  was  the  proposer  and  advocate 
of  the  said  delivery. 

Many  years  later,''  Gaius  Mancinus  had  a  similar 
experience:    he  advocated  the  bill,  introduced  in 
apcordance  with  a  decree  of  the  senate  by  Lucius 
cc2  387 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
L.  FuriuSj  Sex.  Atilius  ex  senatus  consulto  ferebant; 

qua  accepta  est  hostibus  deditus.     Honestius   hic 

quam  Q.  Pompeius,  quo,  cum  in  eadem  causa  esset, 

deprecante  accepta  lex  non  est.     Hic  ea,  quae  vide- 

batur  utilitas,  plus  valuit  quam  honestas,  apud  supe- 

riores  utilitatis  species  falsa  ab  honestatis  auctoritate 

superata  est. 

110       At  non  debuit  ratum  (  jse,  quod  erat  actum  per 

§103     vim. — Quasi  vero  forti  viro  vis  possit  adhiberi. 

Cur  igitur  ad  senatum  proficiscebatur,  cum  prae- 
sertim  de  captivis  dissuasurus  esset  ? 

Quod  maximum  in  eo  est,  id  reprehenditis.     Non 

enim  suo  iudicio  stetit,  sed  suscepit  causam,  ut  esset 

iudicium  senatus  ;  cui  nisi  ipse  auctor  fiiisset,  captivi 

profecto  Poenis  redditi  essent ;  ita  incolumis  in  patria 

Regulus  restitisset.     Quod    quia  patriae  non  utile 

putavit,  idcirco  sibi  honestum  et  sentire  illa  et  pati 

credidit. 

§103  Nam  quod  aiunt,  quod  valde  utile  sit,  id  fieri  ho- 

388 


BOOK  III.  XXX 

Furius  and  Sextus  Atilius,  that  he  should  be  delivered 
up  to  the  Numantines,  with  whom  he  had  made  a 
treaty  without  authorization  from  the  senate ;  and 
when  the  bill  was  passed,  he  was  dehvered  up  to  the 
enemy.  His  action  was  more  honourable  than  Quin- 
tus  Pompey's  ;  Pompey's  situation  was  identical  with 
hiSj  and  yet  at  his  own  entreaty  the  bill  was  rejected. 
In  this  latter  case,  apparent  expediency  prevailed 
over  moral  rectitude ;  in  the  former  cases,  the  false 
semblance  of  expediency  was  overbalanced  by  the 
weight  of  moral  rectitude. 

"But/'  they  argued  against  Regulus,      an  oath  (.'})theinterests 
extorted  by  force  ought  not  to  have  been  binding."  highe/than 
As  if  force  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  a  brave  p^reonaiadvan- 
man! 

Why,  then,  did  he  make  the  journey  to  the 
senate,  especially  when  he  intended  to  plead  against 
the  surrender  of  the  prisoners  of  war?" 

Therein  you  are  criticizing  what  is  the  noblest 
feature  of  his  conduct.  For  he  was  not  content  to 
stand  upon  his  own  judgment  but  took  up  the  case, 
in  order  that  the  judgment  might  be  that  of  the 
senate ;  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  weight  of  his 
pleading,  the  prisoners  would  cei'tainly  have  been 
restored  to  the  Carthaginians ;  and  in  that  case, 
Regulus  would  have  remained  safe  at  home  in  his 
country.  But  because  he  thought  this  not  expedient 
for  his  country,  he  believed  that  it  was  therefore 
morally  right  for  him  to  declare  his  conviction  and 
to  sufFer  for  it. 

When  they  argued  also  that  what  is  highly  expe-  (4)  nothins  cx- 
dient  may  prove  to  be  morally  right,  they  ought  ^''oraii*  n"  hf 
rather  to  say  not  that  it     may  prove  to  be"  but  that 

389 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

nestum,  immo  vero  esse,  non  fieri.  Est  enim  nihil 
utile,  quod  idem  non  honestumj  nec,  quia  utile, 
honestum,  sed,  quia  honestum,  utile. 

Quare  ex  multis  mirabilibus  exemplis  haud  facile 
quis  dixerit  hoc  exemplo  aut  laudabilius  aut  prae- 
stantius. 

111  XXXI.  Sed  ex  tota  hac  laude  Reguli  unum  illud 
est  admiratione  dignum,  quod  captivos  retinendos 
censuit.  Nam  quod  rediit,  nobis  nunc  mirabile 
videtur,  illis  quidem  temporibus  aliter  facere  non 
potuit ;  itaque  ista  laus  non  est  hominis,  sed  tempo- 
inim.  Nullum  enim  vinculum  ad  astringendam  fidem 
iure  iurando  maiores  artius  esse  voluerunt.  Id  indi- 
cant  leges  in  duodecim  tabulis,  indicant  sacratae, 
indicant  foedera,  quibus  etiam  cum  hoste  devincitur 
fides,  indicant  notiones  animadversionesque  censo- 
rum,  qui  nulla  de  re  diligentius  quam  de  iure  iurando 
iudicabant. 

112  L.  Manlio  A.  f.,  cum  dictator  fuisset,  M.  Pompo- 
nius  tr,  pl.  diem  dixit,  quod  is  paucos  sibi  dies  ad 
dictaturam  gerendam  addidisset ;  criminabatur  etiam, 
quod  Titum  filium,  qui  postea  est  Torquatus  appella- 
tus,  ab  hominibus  relegasset  et  ruri  habitare  iussisset. 

»  "  Sacred  "  laws,  according-  to  Festus  (p.  318),  were  laws 
that  placed  their  transgressor,  together  with  his  household 
and  his  property,  under  the  ban  of  some  divinity;  other 
authorities  hmit  the  fcrm  to  the  laws  enacted  upon  the 
Sacred  Mount  (b.c.  394). 
S9O 


BOOK  III.  xxx-xxxi 

it  actually  is  morally  right.  For  nothing  can  be  expe- 
dient  which  is  not  at  the  same  time  morally  right; 
neither  can  a  thing  be  morally  right  just  because  it 
is  expedient,  but  it  is  expedient  because  it  is  morally 
right. 

From  the  many  splendid  examples  in  history, 
therefore,  we  could  not  easily  point  to  one  either 
more  praiseworthy  or  more.  heroic  than  the  conduct 
of  Regulus. 

XXXI.  But  of  all  that  is  thus  praiseworthy  in  the  ''^^fj^^°^,*ggg^^  j^ 
conduct  of  Regulus,  this  one  feature  above  all  others  the  story  of 
calls  for  our  admiration :  it  was  he  who  ofFered  the  Reguius. 
motion  that  the  prisoners  of  war  be  retained.  For 
the  fact  of  his  returning  may  seem  admirable  to  us 
nowadays,  but  in  those  times  he  could  not  have  done 
otherwise.  That  merit,  therefore,  belongs  to  the 
age,  not  to  the  man.  For  our  ancestors  were  of 
the  opinion  that  no  bond  was  more  effective  in 
guaranteeing  good  faith  than  an  oath.  That  is 
clearly  proved  by  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  by 
the  "sacred"  laws,*  by  the  treaties  in  which  good 
faith  is  pledged  even  to  the  enemy,  by  the  investi- 
gations  made  by  the  censors  and  the  penalties 
imposed  by  them  ;  for  there  were  no  cases  in  which 
they  used  to  render  more  rigorous  decisions  than 
in  cases  of  violation  of  an  oath. 

Marcus  Pomponius,  a  tribune  of  the  people,  The  sanctity  oi 
brought  an  indictment  against  Lucius  Manlius,  oid°days."  ^^^ 
Aulus's  son,  for  having  extended  the  term  of  his 
dictatorship  a  few  days  beyond  its  expiration.  He 
further  charged  him  with  having  banished  his  own 
son  Titus  (afterward  surnamed  Torquatus)  from  all 
companionship  with  his  fellow-men,  and  with  requir- 
ing  him  to  live  in  the  country.    When  the  son,  who 

391 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
Quod  cum  audivisset  adulescens  filius,  negotium 
exhiberi  patri,  accurrisse  Romam  et  cum  primo 
luci  ^  Pomponi  domum  venisse  dicitur.  Cui  cum  esset 
nuntiatum,  qui  illum  iratum  allaturum  ad  se  aliquid 
contra  patrem  arbitraretur,  surrexit  e  lectulo  remo- 
tisque  arbitris  ad  se  adulescentem  iussit  venire.  At 
ille,  ut  ingressus  est,  confestim  gladium  destrinxit 
iuravitque  se  illum  statim  interfecturum,  nisi  ius 
iurandum  sibi  dedisset  se  patrem  missum  esse  factu- 
rum.  luravit  hoc  terrore  coactus  Pomponius  ;  rem 
ad  populum  detuHt,  docuit,  cur  sibi  causa  desistere 
necesse  esset,  Manlium  missum  fecit.  Tantum 
temporibus  illis  ius  iurandum  valebat. 

Atque  hic  T.  Manlius  is  est,  qui  ad  Anienem  GaUi, 
quem  ab  eo  provocatus  occiderat,  torque  detracto 
cognomen  invenit,  cuius  tertio  consulatu  Latini  ad 
Veserim  fusi  et  fugati,  magnus  vir  in  primis  et,  qui 
perindulgens  in  patrem,  idem  acerbe  severus  in 
filium. 
1 1 3  XXXII.  Sed,  ut  laudandus  Regulus  in  conservando 
iure  iurando,  sic  decem  illi,  quos  post  Cannensem 
pugnam  iuratos  ad  senatum  misit  Hannibal  se  in 
castra  redituros  ea,  quorum  erant  potiti  Poeni,  nisi 
de  redimendis  captivis  impetravissent,  si  non  redie- 


^  />rimo  luci  Beier,  Ilcine,  Kd,;primo  lucis  c,  prima  luce 
A  B  H  a  b. 


392 


BOOK  III.  xxxi-xxxii 

was  then  a  young  man,  heard  that  his  father  was 
in  trouble  on  his  aeeountj  he  hastened  to  Rome — 
so  the  story  goes — and  at  daybreak  presented  him- 
self  at  the  house  of  Pomponius.  The  visitor  was 
innounced  to  Pomponius.  Inasmuch  as  he  thought 
that  the  son  in  his  anger  meant  to  bring  him  some 
new  evidence  to  use  against  the  father,  he  arose 
from  his  bed,  asked  all  who  were  present  to  leave 
the  room,  and  sent  word  to  the  young  man  to  come 
in.  Upon  entering,  he  at  once  drew  a  sword  and 
swore  that  he  would  kill  the  tribune  on  the  spot,  if 
he  did  not  swear  an  oath  to  withdraw  the  suit  against 
his  father.  Constrained  by  the  terror  of  the  situa- 
tion,  Pomponius  gave  his  oath.  He  reported  the 
matter  to  the  people,  explaining  why  he  was  obhged 
to  drop  the  prosecution,  and  withdrew  his  suit  against 
Manhus.  Such  was  the  regard  for  the  sanctity  of 
an  oath  in  those  days. 

And  that  lad  was  the  Titus  Manhus  who  in  the 
battle  on  the  Anio  killed  the  Gaul  by  whom  he  had 
been  challenged  to  single  combat,  pulled  off  his 
torque  and  thus  won  his  surname.  And  in  his  third 
consulship  he  routed  the  Latins  and  put  thera  to 
flight  in  the  battle  on  the  Veseris.  He  was  one  of 
the  greatest  of  the  great,  and  one  who,  while  more 
than  generous  toward  his  father,  could  yet  be 
bitterly  severe  toward  his  son. 

XXXII.  Now,   as    Regulus   deserves    praise    for  Contrastbetweei 
being  true  to  his  oath,  so  those  ten  whom  Hannibal  terfenvoy" from 
sent  to  the   senate   on   parole   after  the   battle  of^^"°'^^'- 
Cannae  deserve  censure,  if  it  is  true  that  they  did  not 
return;  for  they  were  sworn  to  return  to  the  camp 
which  liad  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  Carthaginians, 
if  they  did  not  succeed  in  negotiating  an  exchange 

S93 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
runt,  vituperandi.  De  quibus  non  omnes  uno  modo ; 
nam  PolybiuSj  bonus  auctor  in  primis,  ex  decem 
nobilissimiSj  qui  tum  erant  missi,  novem  revertisse 
dicit  re  a  senatu  non  impetrata;  unum  ex  decem, 
qui  paulo  post,  quam  erat^  egressus  e  castris^  redisset, 
quasi  aliquid  esset  oblitus,  Romae  remansisse ;  reditu 
enim  in  castra  liberatum  se  esse  iure  iurando  inter- 
pretabatur,  non  recte;  fraus  enim  astringit,^  non 
dissolvit  periurium.  Fuit  igitur  stulta  calliditas 
perverse  imitata  prudentiam.  Itaque  decrevit  sena- 
tus,  ut  ille  veterator  et  callidus  vinctus  ad  Hanniba- 
lem  duceretur. 

114^  Sed  illud  maximum :  octo  hominum  milia  tene- 
bat  Hannibal,  non  quos  in  acie  cepisset,  aut  qui 
periculo  mortis  diffugissent,  sed  qui  relicti  in  castris 
fuissent  a  Paulo  et  a  Varrone  consulibus.  Eos 
senatus  non  censuit  redimendos,  cum  id  parva 
pecunia  fieri  posset,  ut  esset  insitum  militibus  nostris 
aut  vincere  aut  emori.  Qua  quidem  re  audita  fra- 
ctum  animum  Hannibalis  scribit  idem,  quod  senatus 
populusque  Romanus  rebus  afflictis  tam  excelso 
animo  fuisset.  Sic  honestatis  comparatione  ea,  quae 
videntur  utilia,  vincuntur. 

115  C"*  Acilius  autemj  qui  Graece  scripsit  historiam, 
plures  ait  fuisse,  qui  in  castra  revertissent  eadem 

^ Novem  . .  .  quameratc,  Bt.*,  Ed.;  om.  A  B  H  ab;  unum 
qui  Ung-er,  Bt.'^ 

"^astringit  c  p,  Ed.,  Heine;  disiringit Pi.  B  H  a  b,  Unger, 
Bt. 

*§  114  bracketcd  by  Heus.,  Bt.,  as  un-Ciceronian. 

«  C.  Heine,  Ed.;  not  in  MSS. 
394 


BOOK  III.  xxxii 

of  prisoners.  Historians  are  not  in  agreement  in 
regard  to  the  facts.  Polybius,  one  of  the  very  best 
authorities,  states  that  of  the  ten  eminent  nobles 
who  were  sent  at  that  time^  nine  returned  when 
their  mission  failed  at  the  hands  of  the  senate.  But 
one  of  the  ten,  who,  a  little  while  after  leaving  the 
camp,  had  gone  back  on  the  pretext  that  he  had 
forgotten  something  or  other,  remained  behind  at 
Rome ;  he  explained  that  by  his  return  to  the  camp 
he  was  released  from  the  obligation  of  his  oath. 
He  was  wrong;  for  deceit  does  not  remove  the  guilt 
of  perjury — it  merely  aggravates  it.  His  cunning 
that  impudently  tried  to  masquerade  as  prudence  The  ancient 
was,  therefore,  only  folly.  And  so  the  senate  ^1°^!" 
ordered  that  the  cunning  sco"ndrel  should  be  taken 
back  to  Hannibal  in  chains. 

But  the  most  significant  part  of  the  story  is  this : 
the  eight  thousand  prisoners  in  Hannibars  hands 
were  not  men  that  he  had  taken  in  the  battle  or  that 
had  escaped  in  the  peril  of  their  Hves,  but  men  that 
the  consuls  Paulus  and  Varro  had  left  behind  in 
camp.  Though  these  might  have  been  ransomed 
by  a  small  sum  of  money,  the  senate  voted  not  to 
redeem  them^  in  order  that  our  soldiers  might  have 
the  lesson  planted  in  their  hearts  that  they  must 
either  conquer  or  die.  When  Hannibal  heard  this 
newSj  according  to  that  same  writer,  he  lost  heart 
completely,  because  the  senate  and  the  people  of 
Rome  displayed  courage  so  lofty  in  a  time  of  disaster. 
Thus  apparent  expediency  is  outweighed  when 
placed  in  the  balance  against  moral  rectitude. 

Gaius  Acilius,  on  the  other  hand,  the  author  of  a 
history  of  Rome  in  Greek^  says  that  there  were 
several  who  played  the  same  trick  of  returning  to 

395 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 
fraude,  ut  iure  iurando  liberarentur,  eosque  a  cen- 
soribus  omnibus  ignominiis  notatos. 

Sit  iam  huius  loci  finis.  Perspicuum  est  enim  ea, 
quae  timido  animo,  humili,  demisso  fractoque  fiant, 
quale  fuisset  Reguli  factum,  si  aut  de  captivis,  quod 
ipsi  opus  esse  videretur,  non  quod  rei  publicae,  cen- 
suisset  aut  domi  remanere  voluisset,  non  esse  utilia, 
quia  sint  flagitiosa,  foeda,  turpia. 

116  XXXIII.   Restat  quarta  pars,  quae  decore,  modera- 
tione,  modestia,  continentia,  temperantia  continetur. 

Potest  igitur  quicquam  utile  esse,  quod  sit  huie 

talium  virtutum  choro  contrarium?  Atqui  ab  Ari- 
stippo  Cyrenaici  atque  Annicerii  philosophi  nominati 
omne  bonum  in  voluptate  posuerunt  virtutemque 
ciensuerunt  ob  eam  rem  esse  laudandam,  quod  effi- 
ciens  esset  voluptatis.  Quibus  obsoletis  floret 
Epicurus,  eiusdem  fere  adiutor  auctorque  sententiae. 
Cum  his  viris^  equisque/'  ut  dicitur,  si  honestatem 
tueri  ac  retinere  sententia  est,  decertandum  est. 

117  Nam  si  non  modo  utiUtas,  sed  vita  omnis  beata 

corporis   firma  constitutione  eiusque    constitutionis 

spe  explorata,  ut  a  Metrodoro  scriptum  est,  contine- 

tur,  certe  haec  utilitas,  et  quidem  summa  (sic  enim 

'  viris  c  p,  Edd. ;  veris  A  B  H  b. 
396 


BOOK  III.  xxxii-xxxiii 

the  camp  to  release  themselves  thus  from  the  obli- 
gation  of  their  oath,  and  that  they  were  branded  by 
the  censors  with  every  mark  of  disgrace. 

Let  this  be  the  conclusion  of  this  topic.  For  it  Expediency  an 
must  be  perfectly  apparent  that  acts  tliat  are  done  ticai."^^  '^*'°* 
with  a  cowardly,  craven,  abject,  broken  spirit,  as  the 
act  of  Regulus  would  have  been  if  he  had  supported 
in  regard  to  the  prisoners  a  measure  that  seemed  to 
be  advantageous  for  him  personally,  but  disadvan- 
tageous  for  the  state,  or  if  he  had  consented  to 
remain  at  home — that  such  acts  are  not  expedient 
because  they  are  shameful,  dishonourable,  and  im- 
moral. 

XXXIII.    We  have  still  left  our  fourth  division,  Apparent 
comprising  propriety,  moderation,  temperance,  self-  ^^P^^J^^^^^y 

restraint,  Self-COntrol.  Temperance. 

Can  anything  be  expedient,  then,  which  is  con- 
trary  to  such  a  chorus  of  virtues.^  And  yet  the 
Cyrenaics,  adherents  of  the  school  of  Aristippus, 
and  the  philosophers  who  bear  the  name  of  Anni- 
ceris  find  all  good  to  consist  in  pleasure  and  consider 
virtue  praiseworthy  only  because  it  is  productive  of 
pleasure.  Now  that  these  schools  are  out  of  date, 
Epicurus  has  come  into  vogue — an  advocate  and 
supporter  of  practically  the  same  doctrine.  Against 
such  a  philosophy  we  must  fight  it  out  "with  horse 
and  foot,"  as  the  saying  is,  if  our  purpose  is  to 
defend  and  maintain  our  standard  of  moral  rectitude. 

For  if,  as  we  find  it  in  the  writings  of  Metrodorus,  xhe  faiiacy  of 
not  only  expediency  but  happiness  in  life  depends  Epicureanism 
wholly  upon  a  sound  physical  constitution  and  the 
reasonable  expectation   that  it  will  always  remain 
sound,  then    that   expediency — and  what  is  more, 
the  highest  expediency,  as  they  estimate  it — -will 

397 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

censent),  cum  honestate  pugnabit.    Nam  ubi  primum 

prudentiae  locus  dabitur?  an  ut  conquirat  undique 

suavitates  ?    Quam  miser  virtutis  famulatus  servientis 

voluptati!       Quod    autem    munus    prudentiae?   an 

legere  intellegenter  voluptates?     Fac  nihil  isto  esse 

iucundius,  quid  cogitari  potest  turpius  ? 

lam,   qui  dolorem  summum  malum  dicat,  apud 

eum  quem  habet  locum  fortitudoj  quae  est  dolorum 

laborumque  contemptio?  Quamvis  enim  multis  locis 

dicat  Epicurus,  sicuti^  dicit,  satis  fortiter  de  dolore, 

tamen  non  id  spectandum  est,  quid  dicat,  sed  quid 

consentaneum  sit  ei  dicere,  qui  bona  voluptate  ter- 

minaverit,  mala  dolore. 

Et,^  si  illum  audiam,  de  continentia  et  temperantia 

dicit  ille  quidem  multa  multis  locis,  sed  aqua  haeret, 

ut  aiunt;  nam  qui  potest  temperantiam  laudare  is, 

qui  ponat  summum  bonum  in  voluptate  ?  est  enim 

temperantia     libidinum     inimica,    Ubidines    autem 

consectatrices  voluptatis. 

118       Atque  in  his  tamen  tribus  generibus,  quoquo  modo 

possunt,  non  incalHde  tergiversantur ;   prudentiam 

introducunt    scientiam    suppeditantem    voluptates, 

depellentem   dolores;   fortitudinem    quoque   aUquo 

modo  expediunt,  cum  tradunt  rationem  neglegendae 

'  sicuti  L  c,  Edd. ;  sicut  «rf  A  B  H  a  b. 
'^  dolore.  Et  Miiller,  Heine;  dolore:  «^  MSS.,  Bt. ;  dolore. 
Ut  Ed. 
.^98 


BOOK  III.  xxxiii 

assuredly  clash  with  moral  rectitude.  For,  first  of  all, 
what  position  will  wisdom  occupy  in  that  system? 
The  position  of  collector  of  pleasures  from  every 
possible  source?  What  a  sorry  state  of  servitude 
for  a  virtue — to  be  pandering  to  sensual  pleasure ! 
And  what  will  be  the  function  of  wisdom  ?  To  make 
skilful  choice  between  sensual  pleasures?  Granted 
that  there  may  be  nothing  more  pleasant,  what  can 
be  conceived  more  degrading  for  wisdom  than  such 
a  role? 

Then  again,  if  anyone  hold  that  pain  is  the 
supreme  evil^  what  place  in  his  philosophy  has  forti- 
tudcj  which  is  but  indifference  to  toil  and  pain? 
For  however  many  passages  there  are  in  which 
Epicurus  speaks  right  manfully  of  pain,  we  must 
nevertheless  consider  not  what  he  says,  but  what  it 
is  consistent  for  a  man  to  say  who  has  defined  the 
good  in  terms  of  pleasure  and  evil  in  terms  of  pain. 

And  further,  if  I  should  hsten  to  him,  I  should 
find  that  in  many  passages  he  has  a  great  deal  to  say 
about  temperance  and  self-control ;  but  "  the  water 
will  not  run/'  as  they  say.  For  how  can  he  com- 
mend  self-control  and  yet  posit  pleasure  as  the 
supreme  good?  For  self-control  is  the  foe  of  the 
passions,  and  the  passions  are  the  handmaids  of 
pleasure. 

And  yet  when  it  comes  to  these  three  cardinal  Epicureanism 
virtues,  those  philosophers  shift  and  turn  as  best  dfnai  Vi^tues. 
they  can,  and  not  without  cleverness.  They  admit 
wisdom  into  their  system  as  the  knowledge  that 
provides  pleasures  and  banishes  pain;  they  clear  the 
way  for  fortitude  also  in  some  way  to  fit  in  with 
their  doctrines,  when  they  teach  that  it  is  a  rational 
means  for  looking  with  indifFerence  upon  death  and 

S99 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

mortis,  perpetiendi  doloris;  etiam  temperantiam 
inducunt  non  faeillime  illi  quidem,  sed  tamen  quo- 
quo  modo  possunt;  dicunt  enim  voluptatis  magnitu- 
dinem  doloris  detractione  finiri.  lustitia  vacillat  vel 
iacet  potius  omnesque  eae  virtutes^  quae  in  commu- 
nitate  cernuntur  et  in  societate  generis  humani. 
Neque  enim  bonitas  nec  liberalitas  nec  comitas  esse 
potest,  non  plus  quam  amicitia,  si  haec  non  per  se 
expetantur/  sed  ad  voluptatem  utilitatemve  refe- 
rantur. 

Conferamus  igitur  in  pauca. 

119  Nam  ut  utilitatem  nullam  esse  docuimus,  quae 
honestati  esset  contraria,  sic  omnem  voluptatem  di- 
cimus  honestati  esse  contrariam.  Quo  magis  repre- 
hendendos  Calliphontem  et  Dinomachum  iudico, 
qui  se  dirempturos  controversiam  putaverunt,  si  cum 
honestate  voluptatem  tamquam  cum  homine  pecu- 
dem  copulavissent.  Non  recipit  istam  coniunctionem 
honestas,  aspernatur,  repellit.  Nec  vero  finis  bo- 
norum  [et  malorum],^  qui  simplex  esse  debet,  ex 

De  dissimillimis  rebus  misceri  et  temperari  potest.     Sed 

II        '     de  hoc  (magna  enim  res  est)  alio  loco  pluribus ;  nunc 
ad  propositum. 

120  Quem  ad  modum  igitur,  si  quando  ea,  quae  videtur  ' 
utilitas,  honestati  repugnat,  diiudicanda  res  sit,  satis 
est  supra  disputatum.  Sin  autem  speciem  utiHtatis 
etiam  voluptas  habere  dicetur,  nulla  potest  esse  ei 
cum  honestate  coniunctio.     Nam,  ut  tribuamus  ali- 

^  expetantur  A,  Edd. ;  expectantut  B  a;  exspectantur  c. 
'  Omitted  by  Muretus;  brackcted  by  Heine,  Ed.,  et  al. 
^  videtur  z^  Edd.;  videretur  B  H  a  b;  viderentur  h, 

400 


BOOK  III.  xxxiii 

for  enduring  pain.  They  bring  even  temperance  in 
— not  very  easily,  to  be  sure,i)ut  still  as  best  they  can ; 
for  they  hold  that  the  height  of  pleasure  is  found 
in  the  absence  of  pain.  Justice  totters  or  rather,  I 
should  say,  Hes  already  prostrate;  so  also  with  all 
those  virtues  which  are  discernible  in  social  life  and 
the  fellowship  of  human  society.  For  neither  good- 
ness  nor  generosity  nor  courtesy  can  exist,  any  more 
than  friendship  can,  if  they  are  not  sought  of  and 
for  themselves,  but  are  cultivated  only  for  the  sake 
of  sensual  pleasure  or  personal  advantage. 

Let  us  now  recapitulate  briefly. 

As  I  have  shown  that  such  expediency  as  is  opposed  Sensual  pleasun 
to  moral  rectitude  is  no  expediency,  so  I  maintain  r^cti^^de^" 
that  any  and  all  sensual  pleasure  is  opposed  to  moral  incompatible. 
rectitude.  And  therefore  Calhphon  and  Dinomachus, 
in  my  judgment,  deserve  the  greater  condemnation ; 
they  imagined  that  they  should  settle  the  contro- 
versy  by  coupling  pleasure  with  moral  rectitude ;  as 
well  yoke  a  man  with  a  beast !    But  moral  rectitude 
does  not  accept  such  a  union ;  she  abhors  it,  spurns 
it.     Why,  the   supreme  good,  which  ought  to   be 
simple,  cannot  be  a  compound  and  mixture  of  abso- 
lutely  contradictory  quaUties.   But  this  theory  I  have 
discussed  more  fully  in  another  connection ;  for  the 
subject  is  a  large  one.     Now  for  the  matter  before 
us. 

We  have,  then,  fully  discussed  the  problem  how  a 
question  is  to  be  decided,  if  ever  that  which  seems 
to  be  expediency  clashes  with  moral  rectitude.  But 
if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  assertion  is  made  that 
pleasure  admits  of  a  show  of  expediency  also,  there 
can  still  be  no  possible  union  between  it  and  moral 
rectitude.  For,  to  make  the  most  generous  admission 
no  40) 


CICERO  DE  OFFICIIS 

quid  voluptati,  condimenti  fortasse  non  nihil,  utili- 
tatis  eerte  nihil  habebit. 
121  Habes  a  patre  munus,  Marce  fili,  mea  quidem 
sententia  magnum,  sed  perinde  erit,  ut  acceperis. 
Quamquam  hi  tibi  tres  Hbri  inter  Cratippi  commen- 
tarios  tamquam  hospites  erunt  recipiendi ;  sed,  ut,  si 
ipse  venissem  Athenas  (quod  quidem  esset  factum, 
nisi  me  e  medio  cursu  clara  voce  patria  revocasset), 
aliquando  me  quoque  audires,  sic,  quoniam  his 
voluminibus  ad  te  pi-ofecta  vox  est  mea,  tribues  iis^ 
temporis  quantum  poteris,  poteris  autem,  quantum 
voles.  Cum  vero  intellexero  te  hoc  scientiae  genere 
gaudere,  tum  et  praesens  tecum  propediem,  ut  spero, 
et,  dum  aberis,  absens  loquar. 

Vale  igitur,  mi  Cicero,  tibique  persuade  esse  te 
quidem  mihi  carissimum,  sed  multo  fore  cariorem,  si 
talibus  monitis^  praeceptisque  laetabere. 

^  its  Edd. ;  his  A  B  H  a  b ;  ktjs  c. 

■  monitis  Lambinus,  Edd. ;  tnonumentis  A  B  H  a  b ;  tnoni- 
mentis  c. 

a  But  Cicero  never  saw  his  son  Marcus  agaiii. 


402 


BOOK  III.  xxxiii 

we  can  in  favour  of  pleasure,  we  will  grant  tliat  it 
may  contribute  something  that  possibly  gives  some 
spice  to  life,  but  certainly  nothing  that  is  really  ex- 
pedient. 

Herewith,  my  son  Marcus,  you  liave  a  present  Conciusionf 
from  your  father — a  generous  one,  in  my  humble 
opinion ;  but  its  value  will  depend  upon  the  spirit  in 
which  you  receive  it.  And  yet  you  must  welcome 
these  three  books  as  fellow-guests,  so  to  speak,  along 
with  your  notes  on  Cratippus's  lectures.  But  as  you 
would  sometimes  give  ear  to  me  also,  if  I  had  come 
to  Athens  (and  I  should  be  there  now,  if  my  country 
had  not  called  me  back  with  accents  unmistakable, 
when  I  was  half-way  there),  so  you  will  please  devote 
as  much  time  as  you  can  to  these  volumes,  for  in 
them  my  voice  will  travel  to  you;  and  you  can 
devote  to  them  as  much  time  as  you  will.  And 
when  I  see  that  you  take  delight  in  this  branch  of 
philosophy,  I  shall  then  talk  further  with  you — at 
an  early  date,*  I  hope,  face  to  face — but  as  long  as 
you  are  abroad,  I  shall  converse  with  you  thus  at  a 
distance. 

Farewell,  my  dear  Cicero,  and  be  assured  that, 
while  you  are  the  object  of  my  deepest  affection,  you 
will  be  dearer  to  me  still,  if  you  find  pleasure  in 
such  counsel  and  instruction. 


dd2  40S 


INDEX 

References  are  to  Book  and  Section;  all  dates,  given  in  parentheses 
(. . .),  are  b.c. 


Academicians,  1.  adherents  of  the 
New  Academy  [q.v.) ;  theirright  to 
teach  ethics,  i,  6;  attitude  toward 
knowledge,  ii,  7;  Cicero's  philo- 
sophy,  II,  1-8.  2.  adherents  of 
the  Old  Academy,  iii,  20. 

Academy,  1.  the  Older,  a  school 
of  philosophy  founded  by  Plato 
and  so  called  from  its  home ;  their 
doctrine  of  ideas,  iii,  76,  81 ;  the 
pre-existence  and  immortality  of 
the  soul;  monotheism;  the  good- 
ness  of  God;  striving  after  His 
perfection.  2.  the  New,  a  modi- 
fication  of  the  Old,  sceptical, 
anti-dogmatic,  eclectic,  lii,  20. 

Accius,  Lucius,  a  tragic  poet  (born 
170).  His  tragedies  were  mostly 
imitations  from  the  Greek.  Cicero 
knew  him  personallv ;  quotes  from 
hira,  iii,  84, 102, 106. 

Acilius;  Gaius  Acilius  Glm^tio  (tri- 
bune,  197);  interpreter,  when 
Carneades,  Diogenes,  and  Crito- 
laus  came  to  Rome;  author  of 
History  of  Rome,  iii,  115. 

Admiration,  how  won  with  dignity, 
n, 31fg. 

.\eacidae,  descendants  of  Aeacus 
(q.v.),  the  father  of  Peleus  and 
Telamon  and  grandfather  of 
Achilles  and  Ajax,  i,  38. 

Aeacus,  son  of  Zeus  (Jupiter)  and 
king  of  Aegina  iq.v.);  renowned 
for  his  justice  and  piety,  i,  97; 
after  his  death  he  became  with 
Minos  and  Rhadamanthus  judge 
in  Hades. 

Aedileship,  cost  of ,  ii,  57-60. 

Aegina,  an  island  in  the  Saronic 
Gulf,  a  dangerous  rival  to  Athens, 
directly  in  front  of  Piraeus  and 
only  twelve  miles  away,  iii,  46; 
unjustly  appropriated  by  Athens 
(429),  111,46. 

Aeginetans,  the  people  of  Aegina 
ig.v.). 

Aelius ;  see  Tubero. 

Aemilius ;  sec  Paulus  and  Scaurus. 


Aequians,  a  warlike  mountain  tribe 
on  the  upper  Anio,  warring 
against  Rome  (till  304),  i,  35. 

Aesopus,  Claudius,  an  intimate 
friend  of  Cicero,  Rome's  greatest 
tragic  actor,  i,  114. 

Africa,  the  province  in  whicb 
Carthage  was,  i,  112  (Thapsus); 
iii,99(Carthage). 

.\fricanus ;  see  Scipio. 

Agamemnon,  leader  of  the  war 
agaiust  Troy;  when  detained  at 
Aulis  he  sacrificed  his  daughter 
Iphigenia  to  save  the  expedition, 
III,  95.  For  this  he  was  slain  on 
his  return  from  Troy  by  his  wife 
Clytaemnestra. 

A^esilaus,  king  of  Sparta  (398-360); 
waged  war  in  Asia  (396-394), 
victor  at  Coronea,  saviour  of 
Sparta  after  Mantinea  (362);  ii. 
16. 

Agis  IV,  king  of  Sparta  (244-240); 
attempted  to  re-establish  the 
institutions  of  Lycurgus  and  re- 
form  property  abuses;  put  to 
death  through  organized  wealtji, 
II,  80. 

Agrarian  Laws,  a  menace  to  the 
stability  of  the  government,  ii, 
78-83. 

Agriculture,impossible  without  man, 

II,  12;  man's  noblest  calling,  i, 
151. 

Agrigentum,  a  city  on  the  south 
coast  of  Sicily,  once  "  the  most 
beautiful  city  of  mortals,"  ruled 
by  Phalaris  (560),  ii,  26. 

Ajax,  son  of  Telamon;  could  brook 
no  wrong,  went  mad,  and  com- 
mitted  suicide  when  the  arms  of 
Achilles  were  awarded  to  Odys- 
seus,  I,  113;  rebuked  Odysseus, 

III,  98.    Subject  of  a  tragedy  by 
Ennius,  i,  114. 

Albucius,  Titus,  an  Epicurean; 
praetor  in  Sardinia  (105) ;  pro- 
secuted  for  extortion,  ii,  50. 

Alexander,  the  Great  (356-323),  son 

405 


INDEX 


of  Philip  of  Macedon,  ii,  16,  48; 
greater  than  his  father  in  achieve- 
ment,  inferior  in  courtliness,  i, 
80;  governor  of  Macedonia  (340), 

II,  53;  conquered  Greece  (338- 
335),  subdued  Asia  (334-331), 
Egypt  (331),  invaded  India  (329- 
327),  founded  Alexandria  and 
other  citics,  and  died  of  a  drunken 
debauch  (i,  90). 

Alexander,  tyrant  of  Pherae  (369); 
brother,  son-in-law,  and  successor 
of  Jason  {q.v.),  defeated  and  slew 
Pelopidas  of  Thcbes  at  Cynoceph- 
alae  (364);  murdered  by  his 
wife  and  her  three  brothers,  ii, 
25,  26. 

Alexandria,  the  metropolis  of  Egypt 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Nile ;  founded 
by  Alexander  (332);  centre  of 
wealth  (ii,  82);  grain  market,  ni, 
50. 

Alps,  the  mountains  between  Italy 
and  further  Gaul,  ii,  28. 

Ambition,  a  cause  of  injustice,  i, 
25-26,   46,  65;  of  moral  wrong, 

III,  82;  of  treason,  iii,  82-83;  the 
foe  of  freedom,  i,  68 ;  li,  28. 

Amusements,  wholesome,  i,  103-104, 

Anger,  never  excusable,  i,  89. 

Anio,  the  Sabine  river,  tributary  to 
the  Tiber;  the  battle  on  (340), 
which  gave  Rome  supremacy 
over  all  Latium,  iii,  112. 

Anniceris,  of  Cyrene  (4th  century), 
a  successor  of  Aristippus;  his 
■School  a  cross  between  the  Epicu- 
rean  and  the  Cyrenaic:  he  denied 
that  pleasure  was  merely  absence 
of  pain;  he  held  that  every  act 
had  its  own  distinct  purpose  and 
that  the  virtues  are  good  in  them- 
selves;  his  teachings  were  not 
permanent,  iii,  110. 

Antigonus,  one  of  Alexander's 
generals,  governor  of  Asia  (323- 
301),  king  of  Asia  (306-301); 
father  of  Demetrius  Poliorcetes 
and  Philip,  ii,  48. 

Antiope,  mother  of  Amphion  and 
Zethus,  by  whom  she  was  saved 
from  the  persecutions  of  her 
former  husband  Lycus  and  his 
wife  Dirce;  her  vengeance  on 
Dirce  drove  her  mad ;  subject  of 
a  tragedy  of  Pacuvius,  i,  114. 

406 


Antipater,  vice-regent  of  Macedon 
(334);  father  of  Cassander,  ii,  48. 

Antipater,  of  Tarsus  (2nd  century), 
pupil  and  successor  of  Diogenes  of 
Babylonia ;  teacher  of  Panaetius ; 
his  ethical  teachings,  in,  51-55, 
91. 

Antipater,  of  Tyre  (Ist  century), 
friend  of  Cato  the  younger;  a 
Stoic,  II,  86. 

Antonius,  Marcus,  the  famous 
orator  (143-87),  ii,  49;  advocate, 
III,  67 ;  f  ather  of  Cicero's  coUeague 
and  grandfather  o£  the  triumvir. 

Apelles,  of  Cos  (4th  century),  Ihe 
greatest  painter  of  his  age;  court 
painter  to  Alexander  the  Great; 
his  masterpiece  was  a  Venus 
rising  f rom  the  sea ;  another  Venus 
left  unfinished,  iii,  10. 

ApoIIo,  god  of  the  light  of  day ;  giver 
of  oracles  at  Pytho,  ii,  77. 

Appetite,  subject  to  Reason,  i,  101- 
103,132,141, 

Appius  Claudius  Pulchcr,  fathcr  of 
Gaius,  11,57. 

Aquilius;  Gaius  Aquilius  Gallus, 
famous  jurist;  Cicero's  colleague 
in  the  praetorship;  author  of 
formulae  on  criminal  fraud,  iii, 
60-61. 

Aquilius,  Manius,  consul  (101)  with 
Marius;  victorious  in  the  Servile 
War  in  Sicily ;  prosecuted  (98)  but 
acquitted,  ii,  50. 

Aratus,  of  Sicyon,  soldier  and  states- 
man  (271-213),  removed  the  ty- 
rant  Nicocles  (251)  and  averted 
financial  ruin,  ii,  81,  82;  leader 
of  the  Achaean  League;  poisoned 
by  order  of  Philip  of  Macedon. 

Areopagites,  members  of  the  Council 
of  Areopagus. 

Areopagus,  *'  Mars  Hill,"  a  spur  of 
the  Acropolis,  seat  of  the  highest 
court  of  Athens;  the  court  itself, 
with  powers  of  senate  and  su- 
preme  court,  reorganized  and 
enlargcd  in  function  by  Solon,  i, 
75. 

Arginusae,  a  group  of  islands  off  the 
coast  of  Asia  Minor,  near  Lesbos, 
scene  of  the  victory  of  the 
Athenian  fleet  (406),  i,  84.    . 

Argos,  the  chief  city  of  Argolis,  ii, 
81. 


INDEX 


Axistides,  "  the  Just,"  iii,  [16],  49, 
87;  fought  at  Marathon  (490), 
Salamis  (480),  and  commanded 
the  Athenians  at  Plataea  (479) ; 
exiled  (483)  because  his  policies 
clashed  with  those  of  Themis- 
tocles. 

Aristippus,  of  Cyrene  (flourished 
370),  founder  of  the  Cyrenaic 
school,  III,  116;  disciple  of 
Socrates,  but  taught  that  the 
chief  end  of  man  was  to  get 
enjoyment  from  everything  (he- 
donism),  to  subject  all  things  and 
circumstances  to  himself  for 
pleasure;  but  pleasure  must  be 
the  slave  not  the  master;  good 
and  bad  identical  with  pleas- 
ure  and  pain ;  i,  148. 

Aristo,  of  Chios  (3rd  century),  a 
Stoic  philosopher,  pupil  of  Zeno; 
he  taught  indifference  to  exter- 
nals,  nothing  good  but  virtue, 
nothing  evil  but  vice ;  his  theories 
rejected,  i,  6. 

Aristotle  (385-322),  disciple  of  Plato 
and    teacher    of   Alexander    the 

.  Great;  founderof  the  Peripatetic 
school;  greatest  of  ptiilosophers, 
master  of  all  knowledge — pby- 
sics,  metaphysics,  natural  philc- 

:  sophy,  ethics,  politics,  poetics; 
sociology,  logic,  rhetoric,  etc. ; 
II,  56;  III,  35;  might  have  been  a 
great  orator,  i,  4. 

Arpinates,  the  people  of  Arpinum, 
owners  of  public  lands,  l,  21. 

Arpinum,  a  town  in  Latium,  birth- 
place  of  Cicero  and  Gaius  Marius, 
1,21. 

Athenians,  the  people  of  Athens,  i, 
75,  84 ;  their  cruel  sub jugation  of 
Aegina,  ni,  46;  left  theirhomes  to 
fight  at  Salamis,  iii,  48;  political 
.  strife,  I,  86.;  high  moral  principles 
of,  III,  49,  55. 

Athens,  ii,64,83;  iii,55,87;  thein- 
tellectual  and  artistic  centre  of  the 
world;  led  Greece  in  the  Persian 
•  wars  (490-479);  humbled  by 
Sparta  (404);  the  university  dty 
of  tlie  Roman  world,  i,  1 ;  iii,  6, 
121. 

Atilius ;  see  Regulus. 

Atilius;  Sextus  Atilius  Serranus, 
consul  (136),  in,  109. 


Atreus,  son  of  Pelops  and  fathei'  o 
Agamemnon  and  Menelaus,  mut- 
derer  of  his  half-brother  Chrysip- 
pus  and  of  his  brother  Thyestes's 
children ;  murdered  by  his  nephew 
Aegisthus;  a  fruitful  theme  for 
tragedy,  1,97;  111,106. 

Attic,  belonging  to  Attica,  theprov- 
ince  in  which  Athens  is  situated ; 
Attic  comedy,  the  comedy  of 
Aristophanes,  Eupolis,  Menan- 
der,  etc,  i,  104. 

Avarice,  the  great  temptation,  ii, 
38,  77 ;  the  root  of  evil,  iii,  73-75 ; 
due  to  delusion  as  to  expediency, 
ni,  36 ;  avoided  by  the  statesman, 
II,  76-77 ;  contrary  to  all  law,  iii, 
21-23;  see  also  Covetousness. 

Babylonia,  the  district  around 
Babylon  at  the  head  of  the  Per- 
sian  Gulf,  iii,  51. 

Bardulis,  king  of  Illyria,  conquered 
a  large  part  of  Macedonia  from 
Perdiccas,  the  brother  and  pre- 
decessor  of  Philip;  defeated  and 

■  slain  by  Philip  (358);  called  a 
"  brigand,"  because  his  carfeer 
did  not  tend  to  promote  civiliza» 
tion,  II,  40. 

Basilus,  Lucius  Minucius,  otherwise 
unknown;  perhaps  Sulla's  lieu- 
tenant,  m,  73-74. 

Beauty,  physical,  i,  98  126 ;  types 
of,  i,  130. 

Beneficence ;  see  Generosity. 

Bribery,  in  Rome,  ii,  21-22,  75. 

Brutus,.  Lucius  Junius,  led  the 
Romans  to  expel  the  Tarauins; 
helped  by  CoUatinus,  who  snared 
with  him  the  first  consulship 
(509),  III,  40. 

Brutus,  Marcus  Junius,  an  eminent 
jurist,  one  of  the  three  founders 
of  the  civil  law;  father  of  "  the 
Accuser,"  ii,  50. 

Brutus;  Marcus  Junius  Brutus  Ac- 
cusator,  orator  and  vigorbus 
prosecutor,  son  of  the  preceding, 
11,50.  .  :       . 

Caelian  Hill,  the  south-cast  hiU  61 
Rome,  III,  66. 

Caesar,  Gaius  Julius,  son  of  Lucius 
Caesar  Strabo  ;  Vopiscus,  candi- 
date    fox.    the    consulship     (88), 

407 


INDEX 


slain  by  Marius  (87);  poet  and 
orator,  i,  108,  133. 

Caesar,  Gaius  Julius  (100-44),  con- 
sul  (59),  in  Gaul  (58-50),  con- 
quered  Pompey  at  Pharsahis 
(48),  dictator  (48-44),  assassinated 
(44);  orator,  statesman,  scholar, 
soldier;  despot,  ii,  2;  tyrant,  i, 
112;  n,  23-28,  83;  confiscator,  i, 
43;  11,  84;  enslaver  o£  Rome,  iii, 
85;  treatment  of  Marseilles,  n, 
28;  a  victim  of  depraved  ambi- 
tion,  I,  26;  iii,  83;  a  conspirator 
with  Catiline,  his  love  of  wrong, 
II,  84;  deserved  his  death,  in.  19 
32, 82. 

Caesar,  Lucius  Julius,  father  of  the 
Dictator,  i,  108. 

CalUcratidas,  succeeded  Lysander 
as  admiral  of  the  Spartan  fleet,  i, 
109;  defeated  Conon,  took  Les- 
bos,  lost  the  battle  and  his  life 
at  Arginusae  (406),  i,  84. 

CaUiphon,  a  Greek  philosopher, 
probably  a  disciple  of  Epicurus, 
taught  that  the  supreme  good 
was  a  union  between  moral  recti- 
tude  and  pleasure,  ni,  119. 

Calpurnius ;  Lucius  Calpurnius  Piso 
Frugi ;  see  Piso. 

Calpurnius ;  Publius  Calpurnius  La- 
narius ;  see  Lanarius. 

Calypso,  the  nymph  of  Ogygia,  who 
kept  Odysseus  (Ulysses)  with  her 
seven  years,  i,  113. 

Campus  (Martius),  the  open  plain 
next  to  the  Tiber  outside  the 
north  wall  of  Rome;  playground 
and  drillground,  i,  104. 

Canius,  Gaius,  a  Roman  knight,  iii, 
68-60. 

Cannae,  a  town  on  the  Aufidus  in 
Apulia,  scene  of  HannibaVs  over- 
whelming  defeat  of  the  Romans 
(216),  1,40;  III,  47,  113. 

Capitolium,  the  Capitoline  Hill, 
between  the  forum  and  the  Tiber, 
the  citadel  of  Rome,  with  the 
temple  of  Jupiter  and  Good 
Faith,  in,  104;  place  of  augury, 
111,66. 

Cartbage,  once  a  mighty  city,  on  the 
north  central  coast  of  Africa,  iii, 
M,  100;  the  most  formidable 
commercial  and  miiitai:y  rival  of 
Rome ;  conquerod  by  Rome  ia  the 

408 


First  Punic  War  (264-241),  i,  39; 
Second  Punic  War  (219-202),  i, 
40 ;  in,  47 ;  destroyed  in  the  Third 
(149-146),  1,35;  11,76. 

Carthaginians,  the  people  of  Car- 
thage,  1,  39,  108;  in,  99,  110, 
113;  treacherous,  ni,  102;  cruel, 
in,  100,  102;  treaty-breaking,  i, 
38. 

Cassander,  son  of  Antipater,  disin- 
herited  by  his  father,  gained  the 
throne  of  Macedonia  (306)  by 
wars  and  murders  (319-301),  li,  48. 

Cato,  Marcus  Porciiis,  the  Censor 
(or  Major,  the  Elder,  i,  37)  (234- 
149),  author,  i,  104 ;  lil,  1 ;  orator, 
in,  104;  soldier,  served  in  Second 
Punic  War  (217-202);  statesman, 
responsible  for  the  destruction  o£ 
Carthage  (146),  i,  79;  "  the 
Wise,"  ni,  16;  consul  (195);  cen- 
sor  (184);  stalwart  champion  of 
the  simple  life  and  stern  morals, 
II,  89;  bitterly  opposed  luxury 
and  Greek  culture ;  yielded  in  old 
age. 

Cato,  Marcus  Porcius,  son  of  the 
preceding;  jurist;  served   under 
Paulus  in  Macedon  (168),  i,  87 
[under  Marcus  Popilius  Laenas  in 
Liguria(172),  i,  36]. 

Cato,  Marcus  Porcius,  grandson  oi 
the  Censor  and  father  of  Cato 
Uticensis,  ill,  66. 

Cato;  Marcus  Porcius  Cato  Uticensls 
(95-46),  son  of  the  preceding 
and  great-grandson  of  the  Cen- 
sor;  a  Stoic  philosopher;  orator; 
soldier,  i,  112;  defeated  at  Thap- 
sus  (46);  judge,  ni,  66;  stern  and 
unyielding  as  his  great-grand- 
father,  i,  112;  in,  88;  his  suicide, 
I,  112;  close  friend  of  Cicero  (ii, 
2);  111,88. 

Catulus,  Quintus  Lutatius,  half- 
brother  of  Julius  Caesar  Strabo, 
I,  133;  orator;  scholar,  i,  133; 
author;  soldier;  consul  with 
Marius  (102)  in  the  war  against 
the  Cimbri  (101);  gentleraan,  i, 
109;  committed  suicide  to  escape 
the  proscriptions  of  Marius  (87). 

Catulus,  Quintus  Lutatius,  son  of 
the  preceding,  defeated  Lepidut 
at  the  Milvian  bridge;  (tatesman, 
I,  76 ;  scholar,  i,183. 


INDEX 


Caudlum,  a  little  town  in  the  moun- 
tains  of  Samnium ;  near  it  are  the 
Caudine  Forks,  the  scene  of  the 
disastrous  battle  (321);  iii,  109; 
(11,79). 

Celtiberians,  a  powerful  people  of 
central  Spain,  opposed  Rome  in 
Second  Punic  War,  were  reduced 
in  the  Numantian  War  (134),  sub- 
mitted  on  the  death  of  Sertorius 
(72),  I,  38. 

Centumalus,  Tiberius  Claudius;  un- 
known,  iii,  66. 

Chicanery,  i,  33. 

Chremes,  a  character  in  Terence's 
Heauton  Timorumenus,  i,  30. 

Chrysippus,  of  Soli  (250-207),  stud- 
ied  Stoic  philosophy  at  Athens 
under  Cleanthes,  whom  he  suc- 
ceeded;volaminouswriter.  "  Had 
there  been  no  Chrysippus,  there 
had  been  no  Stoa,"  iii,  42. 

Cicero,  Marcus  TuUius,  the  orator's 
father,  III,  77;died(64). 

Cicero,  Marcus  Tullius,  the  orator 
(106-43),  bom  at  Arpinum,  cdu- 
cated  at  Rome  under  Archias, 
the  Scaevolas,  and  the  teachcrs 
of  philosophy  (see  Introduction), 
at  Atliens,  in  Asia,  and  at  Rhodes ; 
his  training  was  all  for  service,  l, 
155;  as  consul  (63)  he  crushed 
the  conspiracy  of  Catiline,  i,  84 ; 
banished  (58),  ii,  58 ;  his  enforced 
retirement  from  his  profession, 
III,  2-4;  as  a  philosopher  and 
orator,  i,  1-3 ;  follower  of  Socrates 
and  Plato,  l,  2 ;  of  the  New  Acad- 
emy,  ii,  7-8;  why  he  wrote  on 
philosophy,  ii,  2-8;  iii,  1-5;  atti- 
tude  on  the  downfall  of  the 
Republic,  li,  2. 

Cicero,  Marcus  TuUius,  the  orator's 
only  son,  i,  1,  15,  78;  ii,  1-8,  44; 
lii,  1,  5,  33;  born  in  65;  served 
with  credit  under  Pompey,  ii, 
45,  and  Sextus  Pompey ;  a  student 
of  Peripatetic  philosophy  under 
Cratippus  in  Athens  (44-43),  i, 
1;  admonished  to  read  also  his 
father's  works,  i,  3;  iii,  121; 
served  under  Brutus  (43-42) ;  con- 
sul  with  Octavian  (30). 

Cimbrians,  a  Celtic  people,  migrat- 
ing  in  a  vast  horde  toward  Italy, 
were  cut  to  pieces  by  Marius  and 


Catulus  in  the  Raudian  Plains 
near  Verona  (101),  i,38. 

Cimon,  of  Athens,  son  of  the  great 
Miltiades;  victorious  admiral; 
statesman;  genial  and  generous, 
n,64;died(449). 

Circe,  nymph  of  Aeaea,  a  sorceress ; 
she  kept  Odysseus  (Ulysses)  in  her 
halls  a  year,  i,  113. 

Civic,  compared  with  military  ser- 
vice,  i,  74  fg. 

Claudius ;  see  Appius  and  Centuma- 
lus  and  Pulcher. 

Cleombrotus,  son  of  Pausanias,  king 
of  Sparta,  fell  at  Leuctra  (371),  i, 
84. 

Cleomenes;  see  note  to  i,  33. 

Clodius;  Publius  Clodius  Pulcher, 
Cicero's  inveterate  enemy,  one 
of  the  most  turbulent  and  corrupt 
characters  of  Rome,  guilty  of 
mutiny  in  the  army,  brihery  in 
the  courts,  profiigacy  in  his 
public  and  private  iife;  securcd 
Cicero's  banishment ;  hired  gladi- 
ators  to  force  his  own  election  to 
tbe  praetorship,  but  was  killed  in 
a  broil  with  MiIo's  rival  gang  o£ 
ruffians,  ii,  58. 

CloeUa,  a  Roman  girl  sent  as  a 
hostage  to  Porsena ;  she  made  her 
escape  by  swimming  the  Tiber, 
was  sent  back,  but  restored  by 
the  king  with  rewards  for  her 
courage,  (i,  61). 

Clytaemnestra,  daughter  of  Tyn- 
dareus,  wife  of  Agamemnon, 
paramour  of  Aegisthus,  with 
whom  she  murdered  her  husband 
on  his  return  from  Troy ;  she  was 
in  tum  slain  by  her  son  Orestes. 
Subject  of  a  tragedy  by  Accius,  i, 
114 

Cocles,  Horatius,  the  hero  who  with 
two  others  kept  tbe  bridge  against 
Porsena  and  Tarquin,  i,61. 

CoUatinus,  Lucius  Tarquinius,  hus- 
band  of  Lucretia,  associate  of 
Brutus  in  driving  out  the  Tar- 
quins  and  bis  colleague  in  the  first 
consulship  (509),  iii,  40. 

Comedy ;  see  Old  Comedy. 

Concealment,  of  guilt,  iii, 37-39. 

Conon,  famous  Athcnian  admiral, 
defeated  by  Lysander  at  Aegos- 
potami    (405),    victorious    over 

409 


INDEX 


Pisandcr  of  Sparta  at  Cnidus 
(394),  restored  the  long  walls,  i, 
116. 

Considerateness,  a  subdivision  of 
the  virtue  of  Temperance,  i,  99, 
143. 

Conversation,  a  division  of  speech, 
I,  132-133;  II,  48;  an  art,  i,  134- 
135. 

Co-operation,  and  civilization,  ii, 
12-16;  and  the  viitues,  ii,  17-18; 
»s.  Fortune,  ii,  19;  a  universal 
need,  ii,  39;  how  secured,  ii,  21 
fg- 

Corinth,  a  famous  city  at  the  Isth- 
mus  of  Corinth;  wealthy;  next 
to  Athens,  richest  in  treasures  of 
art ;  head  of  the  Achaean  League ; 
sacked  and  utterly  destroyed  by 
the  Romans  undcr  Mummius 
(146),  1,35;  11,76;  m,  46. 

Cornelius;  see  Scipio  and  Spinther 
and  Sulla. 

Cos,  chief  city  of  the  island  of  Cos, 

-  one  of  the  Sporadcs ;  famed  for  its 
silks;  the  birthplace  of  Apelles, 
painter  of  the  Coan  Venus,  iii, 
10. 

Cotta,  Gaius  Aurelius,  distinguished 
.  orator;  one  of  the  speakers  in 
Cicero's  de  Oratore  and  de  Natura 
Deorum;  consul  (75) ;  ii,  59. 

Courage ;  see  Fortitude.  ■ 

Covetousness,  ij  68;  iii,  30;  see 
Avarice. 

Crassus,  Lucius  Licinius,  the  famoiis 
orator,  ii,.63;  iii,  67;  at  21  (119) 
he  won  renown  by  his  prosecu- 
tioa  of  Carbo,  the  one-time  friend 
of  the  Gracchi,  II,  47,  49;  his 
aedileship  most  splendid,  ii,  57; 
as  consul  (95),'  he  seoured  the 
expulsion  from  Rome  of  all  who 
were  not  citizens,  ni,  47;  this^was 
a  cause  of  the  Social  War.  He 
was  the  greatest  orator  of  Rome 
before  Cicero,  fluent,  graceful, 
witty,  I,  108,  183-;  Cicero's 
mouthpiece  in  the  de  Oratore. 

Crassus;  Marcus  Licinius  Crassus 
Dives,  the  triumvir;  his  wealth 
and  ambition,  i,  25;  sided  with 
SuIIa  against  Marius  and  grew 
enormously  rich  by  the  proscrip- 
tions;  bis  avarice  did  not  shrtnk 
from  any  mca/in^ss  or  even  crime, 

410 


i,  109;  III,  73-75.  He  defeareu 
Spartacus  (71);  slain  in  Parthia 
(53). 

Crassus;  Publius  Licinius  Crassus 
Dives,  II,  57 ;  father  of  the  trium- 
vir,  consul  (97) ;  ended  his  own  life 
to  escape  the  proscriptions  of 
Marius  (87);  Cicero  bought  his 
house. 

Cratippus,  of  Mitylene,  an  eminent 
Peripatetic,  came  to  Athens 
(about  50)  to  lecture;  foremost  of 
contemporary  philosophers  and 
teacher  of  young  Cicero,  i,  1,  2;  ii, 
8;  111,5,6,33,121 

Cunning,  not  wisdom,  ll,  10;  in,  72, 
96. 

Curio,  Gaius  Scribonius,  ii,  59; 
orator  and  statesman,  iii,  88; 
consul,  (76). 

Cynics,  a  school  of  philosophy  so 
called  from  the  Athenian  gym- 
nasium,  Cynosarges,  whcre  they 
met,  later  adapted  to  their  snarl- 
ing  manner  and  dirty  habits;  its 

■  leaders  were  Antisthenes  of 
Athens,  a  disciple  of  Socrates,  and 
Diogenes  of  Sinope ;  they  taught 
the  virtue  of  poverty  and  want, 
indifference  to  all  convention  and 
decency;  Cicero's  contempt  for 
them  and  their  so-called  philo- 
sophy,  1, 128, 148. 

Cyrenaics,  the  philosophic  sect 
founded  by  Aristippus  (q.v.),  iii, 
116. 

Cyrsilus,  a  Medizing  Athenian,  iii, 
48. 

Cyrus,  the  Great,  founder  of  the 

-  Persian  Empire ;  wonderf ully  gif  t- 
ed  in  wianing  the  co-operation  of 
men  and  nations,  ii,  16. 

Damon,  a  Pythagorean  and  friend  of 
Phintias,  iii,  45. 

Debts,  canccllation  of,  ii,  78-79, 
83-85;  avoidance  of,  u,  84;  pay- 
ment  enforced,  Hi  84. 

Decius;  Publius  Decius  Mus,  fatbcr 
and  son,  i,  61 ;  iii,  16;  the  former, 
consul  with.  Maalius  Torquatus 
(360),  devoted  himself  to  death 
in  the  battle  on  the  Veseris.  The 
son  did  the  same  at  the  battle  ol 
Sentinuni  (295)  and  brought  tb* 
Samnite  wats  to  an  end-.  j 


INDEX 


Demetrius  of  Phalerum  (345-283), 
orator,  statesman,  ii,  60;  philo- 
sopher,  poet ;  pupil  of  Theo- 
phrastus,  i,  3;  the  only  Greek 
who  was  both  orator  and  philo- 
sopher,  i,  3 ;  he  inspired  the  found- 
ing  of  the  Alexandrine  library. 

Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  ii,  26;  son  of 
Antigonus  and  king  of  Macedon 
(294-287).  His  life  was  occupied 
with  continuous  warfare  against 
enemies  in  Egypt,  Asia,  Greece, 
Macedonia,  Epirus. 

Demosthenes,  tlie  greatest  orator  of 
Athens  (385-322);  pupil  of  Isaeus 
and  of  Plato,  l,  4;  might  have 
been  a  great  philosopher,  i,  4; 
at  18  he  prosecuted  his  defaulting 
guardian  with  success,  ii,  47 ; 
then  turned  to  public  speaking 
and  statecraft  as  a  profession. 

Diana,  goddess  of  the  light  of  the 
night,  identified  with  Arterais, 
iii,  95. 

Dicaearchus,  of  Messana  (4th  cen- 
tury),  a  Peripatetic  philosopher, 
geographer,  and  historian,  ii,  16; 
pupil  of  Aristotle  and  friend  of 
Theophrastus. 

Dinomachus,  a  Greek  philosopher^ 
always  named  with  Calliphon 
-{q.v.),  111,119. 

Diogenes,  of  Babylonia,  pupil  and 
successor  of  Cbrysippus;  best 
known  for  his  part  in  the  famous 
embassy  with  Carneades  and 
Critolaus  from  Athens  to  Rome 
(156)  where,  on  motion  of  Cato, 
they  were  not  permitted  to  re- 
main;  his  ethics  rather  loose,  iii, 
51-55,91. 

Dion,  a  kinsman  of  the  elder  Diony- 
sius  and  tyrant  of  Syracuse  (356- 
353) ;  a  devoted  disciple  of  Plato 
at  Syracuse  and  Athens,  l,  155. 

Dionysius,  fhe  elder  (430-367), 
tyrant  of  Syracuse  (405-367),  a 
typically  cruel  tyrant,  suspicious 
and  fearful,  ii,  25;  m,  45  (?);  de- 
voted  to  art  and  literature,  him- 
self  a  poet  crowned  with  a  prize  at 
Athens. 

Dionysius,  the  younger,  son  of  the 
preceding  and  tyrant  of  Syracuse 
(367-356,  346-343);  devoted  to 
literature;  Plato,  Aristippus,  Ar- 


chytas,  and  otbers  were  brought 
to  his  court.  Whether  the  Da- 
mon  and  Phintias  story  is  to  be 
connected  with  him  or  bis  fatber 
is  uncertain,  iii,  45  ( ?). 

Drusus,  Marcus  Livius,  son  of 
Gaius  Gracchus's  colleague  in  tbe 
tribuneship;  an  eloquent  orator, 
i,  108;  as  tribune  (91)  he  at- 
tempted  to  renew  tbe  social  and 
agrarian  legislation  of  Gracchus 
and  was  assassinated. 

Duty,  the  most  important  subject 
iii  philosophy,  i,  4;  the  most 
fruitful  field,  iii,  5;  the  philoso- 
phic  sects  and  duty,  i,  4-6;  best 
presentation,  iii,  7;  classification, 
i,  7-9;  order  of  importance,  i,  58, 
152-160;  III,  90;  to  those  wbo 
have  wronged  us,  i,  33;  to  an 
enemy,  i,  35-40;  iii,  98-115;  to  a 
slave,  I,  41;  iii,  89;  toward  the 
laws,  1,  148;  of  generosity,  i,  42- 
60;  of  Temperance-Propriety,  i, 
100-151;  iii,  116-121;  of  Forti- 
tude,  III,  97-115;  to  be  prosper- 
ous,  II,  87;  duties  of  youth,  i, 
122;  II,  52;  of  age,  i,  123;  of  mag- 
istrates,  i,  124;  of  statesmen,  i, 
-73-85 ;  of  private  citizens,  i,  124 ; 
of  aliens,  i,  125;  vs.  claims  of 
friendship,  in,  43-44;  cbange  of 
duty  in  change  of  circumstance, 
1,  31,  59;  III,  32;  "mean"  and 
"absolute"  duty,  i,  8;  iii,  14; 
doubts  as  to,  i,  147. 

Eloquence,  at  the  bar,  ii,  66;  its 
decline,  ii,  67 ;  see  Oratory. 

Ennius,  Quintus  (239-169),  a  Greek 
by  birth,  tbe  father  of  Roman 
poetry,  wrote  an  epic  (the  Annals) 
I,  84;  tragedies,  i,  26,  51,  52;  ii, 
23,  62 ;  III,  62,  104 ;  comedies  and 
satires.  ; 

Epaminondas,  one  of  tbe.greatest 
men  of  Greece,  a  student  of 
Pythagorean  philosophy,  i,  155; 
thc  greatest  general  of  Thebes, 
victorious  at  Leuctra  (371),  i,  84; 
humbled  Sparta  and  made  Thebes 
the  leading  city  of  Greece;  fell  at 
Mantinea(362). 

Epicurus  (342-270),  founded  at 
Atbens  the  school  that  bears  his 
aaine;-author    of    300    books, 

411 


INDEX 


natural  and  ethical  philosophy; 
held  happiness  to  be  the  highest 
good;  Cicero  confuses  his  teach- 
ing  here  vvith  that  of  Axistippus 
and  the  Cyrenaics;  with  the 
latter,  liappiness  consists  in  indi- 
vidual  pleasures;  with  Epicurus, 
it  is  permanent  calm  of  soul  and 
freedom  from  pain,  with  pure  and 
lasting  pleasures — the  pleasures 
that  come  from  a  life  of  rigbteous- 
ness,  iii,  12,  117;  the  gods  existed 
but  had  nothing  to  do  with  human 
life,  III,  102;  adopted  the  atomic 

•  theory.  His  own  life  was  tem- 
perate  even  to  abstinence;  his 
foliowers  went  to  excess.  A  very 
popular  school,  iii,  116;  repre- 
sented  by  Cicero  as  illogical, 
iii,  39;  their  theory  of  society, 
1, 158. 

Epigoni,  the  sons  of  the  Seven 
against  Thebes ;  under  Aicmaeon, 
Diomedes,  etc,  they  conquered 
and  destroyed  the  city.  Subject 
of  a  tragedy  of  Accius,  i,  114. 

Erillus,  of  Carthage,  pupil  of  Zeno 
the  Stoic,  held  tliat  knowledge 
is  the  only  good,  while  everything 
else  is  neitber  good  nor  evil;  his 
ethical  theories  rejected,  l,  6. 

Eteocles,  son  of  Oedipus,  drove  out 
his  brother  Polynices,  in  order  to 
reign  alone,  and  brought  on  the 
war  of  the  Seven  against  Thebes ; 
the  brothers  fell  by  each  other's 
hands;  iii,  82. 

Euripides  (480-406),  tragic  poet  of 
Athens;  disciple  of  Anaxagoras 
and  friend  of  Socrates;  wrote  75 
to  90  plays;  17  are  extant;  Cicero 
quotes  from  the  Hippolytus,  iii, 
82 ;  the  Phoenissae,  iii,  108. 

Evil,  thesupreme,  i,  5;  iii,  119;  not 
pain,  i,  5;  iii,  105, 117;  but  moral 
wrong,  III,  105,  106;  tbe  only,  iii, 
106. 

E.xpediency,  definition,  ii,  1,  11; 
i:idispensable,  iii,  101;  identical 
with  Moral  Rectitude,  ii,  9-10; 
III,  20,  35,  49,  83,  85,  110;  con- 
flict  with  Moral  Rectitude  im- 
possible,  III,  9,  11,  18,  34,  40,  48, 
72;  incompatible  with  immo- 
rality,  iii,  35,  77,  81.  82,  87;  ii, 
64;  one  staodard  for  botb,  ui, 

412 


75;  relative,  ii,  88  fg.;  possible 
change  of,  iii,  95;  occasion  for 
doubt,  III,  19;  apparent  conflict 
with  justice,  iii,  40,  86;  apparent 
political  expediency  vs.  humanity, 
III,  46-49;  in  business,  iii,  50  fg. ; 
apparent  conflict  with  Fortitude, 
III,  97-115;  apparent  conflict  witb 
Temperance,  iii,  116. 

Fabius ;  see  Maximus. 

Fabricius;  Gaius  Fabricius  Lus- 
cinus,  hero  of  old  Rome,  famed 
for  integrity  and  moral  dignity; 
called  "the  Just,"  iii,  16,  87; 
consul  (282) ;  served  agaiiist  Pyr- 
rhus  (280);  ambassador  to  Pyr- 
rhus  to  negotiate  exchange  of 
prisoners;  Pyrrlms  tried  to  gain 
his  favour  by  appeals  to  his  am- 
bition,  avarice,  and  fears — in 
vain,  i,  38;  consul  again  (278),  he 
sent  back  to  Pyrrhus  the  traitor, 
i,  40;  III,  86-87 ;  a  rigorous  censor 
(275) ;  lived  and  died  in  poverty. 

Fame ;  see  Glory. 

Fear,  the  wretchedness  of,  ii,  25-26 ; 
vs.  love,  II,  23-26;  dangerous  to 
the  one  who  employs  it,  ii,  26. 

Fetial  Law,  the  laws  of  the  Fetiales, 
a  college  of  four  priests  who 
served  as  guardians  of  the  public 
faith;  they  conducted  the  cere- 
monies  attendant  upon  demaods 
for  redress,  declarations  of 
war,  ratification  of  treaties,  es- 
tablishment  of  peace;  i,  36;  ni, 
108. 

Fides;  see  Good  Faith;  the  god- 
dess,  III,  104 ;  etymology  of ,  i,  23. 

Fimbria,  Gaius  Flavius,  colleague 
of  Marius  in  his  second  consulship 
(104) ;  orator  and  jurist,  iii,  77. 

Finance,  ii,  87;  reform  of  currency, 
111,80-81. 

Fortitude,  the  third  Cardinal  Virtue, 
I,  15,  61-92;  its  characteristics, 
I,  66;  in  the  light  of  justice,  i, 
62,  157;  dangers  attending,  i,  46, 
62-63;  vs.  expediency,  iii,  97-115; 
in  Epicurus's  systcm,  iii,  117. 

Fraud,  criminal,  iii,  60  fg. 

Friendship,  motives  to,  «,  55-56 ;  ac- 
quisition  of  friends,  ii,  30;  idcal 
i,  56;  III,  45-46;  vs.  duty,  iii, 
43-44. 


INDEX 


Fufius,  Lucius,  an  orator  of  no  great 

ability,  ii,  50. 
Furius;  Lucius  Furius  Philus,  con- 

sul  (136),  proconsul  in  Spain,  iii, 

109;    a    leamed   interlocutor   in 

Cicero's  Republic. 

Galus,  Gaius  Sulpicius;  see  Sul- 
picius. 

Gaul,  an  inhabitant  of  Gaul,  the  land 
north  of  the  Apennines,  iii,  112. 

Generosity,  divisions  of,  ii,  52; 
close  to  nature,  iii,  24;  must  not 
barm  its  object,  i,  42-43 ;  in  pro- 
portion  to  one's  means,  i,  42-44; 

II,  55;  to  the  recipienfs  merits, 
i,  45-60 ;  motives  to,  i,  47-49 ;  iii, 
118;  means  to  winning  popu- 
larity,  ii,  32;  gifts  of  money,  ii, 
52-60;  personal  service,  ii,  52, 
53;  to  individuals,  ii,  65-71;  to 
the  state,  ii,  72  fg. ;  when  most 
appreciated,  ii,  63. 

Glory,  a  means  to  popularity,  ii,  31, 
43 ;  preferred  to  wealth,  li,  88. 

Gods,  favourof,  won  by  piety,  ii,  11 ; 
do  no  hann,  ii,  12;  iii,  102;  free 
from  care,  iii,  102;  slow  to  anger, 

III,  102, 104, 105. 

Golden  Mean,  i,  89;  in  generosity, 
II,  58,  59,  60;  in  personal  adorn- 
ment,  i,  130. 

Good,  the  supreme,  i,  5,  7;  iii,  52, 
119;  not  pleasure,  i,  5;  iii,  116, 
117,  118;  but  moral  goodness,  iii, 
11,  35;  living  in  harmony  with 
nature,  iii,  13;  the  only,  moral 
goodness,  i,  67 ;  iii,  12. 

Good  faith,  iii,  104;  even  to  an 
enemy,  iii,  86  fg.,  111,  113. 

Good  man,  what  constitutes  a,  ni, 
63,  75-77. 

Gracchus,  Gajus  Sempronius,  bro- 
ther  of  the  younger  Tiberius;  a 
more  radical  reformer;  tribune 
(123  and  122);  fell  (121)  a  martyr 
to  his  reforms  for  the  restoration 
of  the  public  lands  and  the  re- 
duction  of  the  cost  of  living,  ii, 
72,  80;  his  death  applauded  by 
Cicero,  li,  43. 

Gracchus,Publius  Sempronius,father 
of  the  elder  Tiberius,  ii,  43. 

Gracchus,  Tiberius  Sempronius,  fa- 
ther  of  the  tribunes,  ii,  43;  in 
his  own  tribuneship  he  defended 


Scipio  (187);  a  great  soldier,  ii, 
80;  twice  consul,  triurophed 
twice ;  a  just  ruler  in  Spyain ;  son- 
in-Iaw  of  the  elder,  father-in-law 
of  the  younger  Africanus,  an 
ardent  aristocrat;  hence  Cicero's 
praise,  ii,  43. 

Gracchus,  Tiberius  Sempronius,  son 
of  the  foregoing;  a  persuasive 
orator;  friend  of  the  people  and 
helper  of  the  poor  and  op- 
pressed;  murdered  for  attempting 
as  tribune  (133)  to  reform  agrarian 
abuses  and  build  up  a  class  of 
small  farmers,  i,  76,  109 ;  li,  80 ; 
his  death  applauded  by  Cicero,  ii, 
43. 

Gratidianus,  Marcus  Marius;  see 
Marius. 

Gratitude,  how  won,  ii,  63. 

Greece,  the  land  of  liberty,  letters, 
art,  and  civilization,  ii,  60;  iii, 
48,  73,  99 ;  cause  of  fall,  ii,  80. 

Greek,  belonging  to  or  a  native  of 
Greece,  i,  108,  111 ;  ii,  83 ;  in,  82 ; 
leaders  in  literature,  i,  3;  masters 
of  philosophy,  i,  8,  51,  142,  153; 
II,  18;  Greek  and  Latin  studies, 
1,1. 

Gyges,  the  shepherd  who  dethroned 
Candaules  and  became  king  of 
Lydia  (716-678),  III,  38,  78. 

Gytheum,  the  harbour-town  and 
arsenal  of  Sparta,  iii,  49. 

Hamilcar,  a  successful  Carthaginian 
general  in  the  First  Punic  War, 
deftated  by  Regulus  at  Ecnomus ; 
opposed  Regulus  in  Africa,  iii, 
99;  confused  with  Hamilcar 
Barca  {q.v.),  iii,  99. 

Hamilcar  Barca,  famous  command- 
er  of  the  Carthaginian  forces  in 
Sicily  (247-241);  in  Spain  (238- 
229);  father  of  Hannibal,  iii,  99. 

Hannibal  (247-183),  one  of  the 
worId's  greatest  generals,  i,  108 ; 
son  of  Hamilcar  Barca,  iii,  99; 
sacked  Saguntum  (219),  crossed 
the  Alps  and  defeated  the  Romans 
on  the  Trebia  and  Ticinus  (218), 
at  Trasimenus  (217),  Cannae 
(216),  l,  40;  iii,  113-114;  defeated 
at  Zama  (202);  maligned  by  the 
Romans  as  treacherous  and  crue  , 
1,38. 

413 


INDEX 


Harm,  ffom  gods  to  men,  ii,  12;  iii, 
102;  men  to  men,  ii,  16  fg. 

Health,  impossible  without  man's 
co-operation,  ii,  12,  15 ;  care  of, 
11,86. 

Hecaton,  of  Rhodes,  a  Stoic,  pupil 
of  Panaetius,  iii,  63,89. 

Hercuies,  the  greatest  of  heroes,  son 
of  Zeus  (Jupiter)  and  Alcmena, 
i,  118;  his  choice  of  his  path  in 

.  life,  1, 118 ;  performer  of  the  twelve 
labours;  benefactor  of  humanity, 
III,  25 ;  his  attainment  of  heaven, 
111,25. 

Hernicians,  a  tribe  in  the  Sabine 
mountains,  subdued  by  Rome 
(306),  I,  35. 

Herodotus,  of  Halicarnassus  (5th 
century),  lived  also  at  Athens  and 
Thurii;  the  father  of  history; 
travelled  widely  and  wrote  the 
history  of  Persia  and  Greece,  ii, 
41. 

Hesiod,  the  Boeotian  didactlc  poet 
(8th  century) ;  author  of  the  The- 
ogony,  the  Works  and  Days,  etc, 
I,  48. 

Hippoly  tus,  son  of  Theseus ;  his  step- 
mother  Phaedra  fell  in  love  with 
bim;  he  rejected  her  advances 
but  promised  not  to  tell,  iii,  108; 
she  accused  him  falsely;  his 
innocence  proved,  Phaedra  hang- 
ed  herself  and  Theseus  suffered 
lifelong  remorse,  i,  32;  iii,  94. 

Home,  of  raan  of  rank;  see  House. 

Homer,  the  poet,  author  of  Iliad 
and  Odyssey,  iii,  97. 

Honesty,  the  bond  of  human  society, 
III,  21  fg.;  the  corner-stone  of 
government,  ii,  78  fg. 

House,  suitablc  for  a  man  of  rank,  i, 
138-140. 

Hortensius,  Quintus  (114-50),  Ci- 
cero's  famous  rival  as  orator  and 
advocate;  his  close  friend  (after 
63),  III,  73;  enormously  wealthy; 
lavish  in  his  aedileship  (75),  ii, 
57;  not  always  scrupulous,  iii, 
73-74, 

Hospitallty,  the  duty  of,  ii,  64. 

Humility,  in  prosperity,  i,  90-91. 

IUyria,  the  country  between  Mace- 

donia  and  the  Adriatic,  ii,  40. 
Ingratitude,  abhorred,  ii,  63. 


Injustice,  active  and  passive,  i,  23, 
28;  never  expedient,  ni,  84;  of 
hypocrisy,  i,  41. 

Instinct  and  Reason,  difference  be- 
t\\'een  man  and  beast,  i,  11. 

Iiitegrity,  official,  ii,  75,  76,  77. 

Iphigenia,  daughter  of  Agaraemnon 

^  and  Clytaemnestra  {q.v.) ;  sacri- 
ficed  at  Aulis,  ni,  95. 

Isocrates  (436-338),  one  of  the  ten 
Attic  orators,  pupil  of  Gorgias 
anc^  Socrates ;  a  polished  speaker ; 
greater  as  a  teacher  than  as  an 
orator;  might  have  been  a  great 
philosopher,  i,  4. 

Italian  War  (90-88),  caused  by 
Rome's  injustice  to  the  allies,  pro- 
voked  by  the  fear  of  prosecution 
on  the  part  of  the  corrupt  aristo- 
crats,  II,  75;  resulted  in  Rome's 
granting  the  contentions  of  the 
allies. 

Italy,  in  government  identified  with 
Rome,  II,  76. 

Ithaca,  the  home  of  Odysseus 
(Ulysses),  an  island  of  the  lonian 
group  west  of  Greece,  probably 

,  the  historical  Leucas,  iii,  97. 

Janus,  an  old  Italian  sun-god;  a 

.  covered  passage  (commonly  called 
his  temple)  adjoining  the  forum 
accommodated  thebanking  houses 
of  Rome,  ii,  87. 

Jason,  tyrant  of  Pherae  (395-370), 
generalissimo  of  Thessaly  (374- 
370),  an  able  soldier  and  diplo- 
mat,  i,  108. 

Jests;s<«Wit. 

Jove;  s<e  Jupiter 

Jugurtha,  king  of  Numidia  (118- 
106),  campaigned  with  Scipio 
against  Numantia;  war  with 
Rome  (112-106)  protracted  by  his 
bribes  as  much  as  by  his  arms,  lll, 
79 ;  executed  in  Rome  (104). 

J  ulius ;  see  Caesar. 

Junius;  see  Brutus  and  Pennus  acd 
Silanus. 

Jupiter,  the  greatest  of  the  gods  of 
Italy,  III,  102,  105;  "  Supreme 
and  Best,"  iii,  104;  father  of 
Hercules,  i,  118. 

Justice,  thesecond  Cardinal  Virtue, 
I,  15,  17,  20-41;  In  what  con- 
«isting,  I,  20;  not  fully  comprc- 


INDEX 


hended,.  m,  69 ;  queen  of  all  the 
virtues,,  iii,  28;  most  important, 
I,  153;  close  to  nature,  i,  163; 
III,  24;  rule  of  duty,  i,  29-30;  in 
war,  1,  38-40;  aad  generosity,  i, 

,    42;  vs.  Wisdom,   i,  152-157;  vs. 

^.  Fortitude,  i,  157 ;  vs.  Temperance, 
I,  159-160;  indispensable  in  busi- 
ness,  II,  40;  iuspires  most  confi- 
dence,  ii,  34 ;  the  best  means  to 
popularity,  ii,  39;  to  glory,  ii,  43; 
always  expedient,  iii,  96;  in  con- 
iiict  with  apparent  expediency, 
111,40,86. 

Labeo,  Qulntus  Fabius,  grandson 
of  Fabius  Maximus,  Consul  (183); 
injustice  of,  i,  .33. 

Lacedaemon ;  see  Sparta. 

Laciads,  citizens  of  the  deme  of 
Lacia,  west  of  Athens,  the  home 
of  Miltiades,  u,  64. 

Laelius,  Gaius,  surnamed  "  the 
Wise,"  III,  16;  statesman;  soldier 
under  Scipio  at  Carthage,  success- 
ful  against  Viriathus,  ii,  40;  a 
Stoic,  pupil  of  Diogenes  and 
Panaetius ;  a  man  of  endless  charm 
and  wit,  i,  90, 108 ;  his  friendship 
for  Af ricanus  inunortalized,  ii,  31 ; 
a  man  of  letters,  centre  of  the 
literary  group  comprising  also 
Scipio,  Panaetius,  Polybius,  Te- 
rence,  Lucilius. 

Lanarius,  Gaius  Calpurnius,  iii,  66. 

Latin,  study  of  combined  with 
Greek,  i,  1-2. 

Latins,  the  people  of  Latium,  the 
province  in  which  Rome  is 
situated,  the  first  territory  added 
to  Rome,  i,  38 ;  decisive  battle  on 
the  Anio,  iii,  112. 

Law,  the  origin  of,  ii,  41-42;  the 
majesty  of,  i,  148;  as  a  profes- 
sion,  II,  65;  its  decline  with  the 
end  of  the  Republic,  ii,  67;  iii, 
2. 

Lentulus ;  Publius  Comelius  Lentu- 
lus  Spinther,  the  splendour  of  his 
aedileship  (63),  ii,  57;  as  consul 
(57)  he  was  largely  instrumental 
in  securing  Cicero's  recall  from 
banishment. 

Leuctra,  a  town  of  Boeotia,  where 
the  Spartans  undrr  Cleombrotus 
were    disastrously    defeated    by 


Epaminondas  and  the  Thebans 
(371),  1,61;  II,  26. 

Love,  hmv  won,  ii,  32;  vs.  fear,  ii, 
23-26. 

LucuUus,  Lucius  Licinius  (110-56), 
surnamed  Ponticus  for  his  vic- 
tories  over  Mithradates  (84-66); 
famed  for  his  wealth  and  mag- 
nificence,  i,  140;  for  the  splen- 
dour  of  his  aedileship  with  his 
brother  Marcus  (79),  ii,  57;  with 
him  prosecuted  Servilius  to 
avenge  their  father  whom  he  had 

,  accused  of  bribery  and  corrup- 
tion,  11,  50;  patron  of  letters, 
especially  of  the  poet  Archias. 

Lucullus,  Marcus  Licinius,  asso- 
ciated  with  his  brother  Lucius 
{q.v.},    II,    60,    57;    soldier    and 

■   orator. 

Lusitania,  western  Spain,  practically 
modern  Portugal,  ii,  40. 

Lutatius ;  See  Catulus. 

Luxury,  a  vice,  i,  92,  106, 123. 

Lycurgus  (9th  century),  the  famous 
lawgiver  of  Sparta,  author  ( ?)  of 
the  Spartan  constitution,  i,  76. 

Lydia,  the  central  country  of  wes» 
tern  Asia  Minor,  iii,  38. 

Lysander,  the  Spartan  admiralwho 
defeated  the  Athenians  at  Aegos- 
potami  (405),  received  the  capitu- 
lation  of  Athens  (404),  established 

, '  the  Thirty  Tyrants  (403),  and 
gave  Sparta  her  leadership,  i,  76, 
109. 

Lysander,  the  ephor  (241),  a  de- 
scendant  of  the  admiral,  a  friend 
of  King  Agis  (q.v.),  sought  to  bring 
about  agrarian  reforms  based  up- 
on  the  constitution  of  Lycurgus; 
for  this  he  was  banished,  ii  80. 

Lysis,  of  Tarentum,  a  Pythagorean; 
expelled  from  Italy,  he  came  to 
Thebes  and  taught  Epaminondas, 
1, 155. 

Macedonia,  until  the  time  of  Philip 
a  small  coimtry  north  of  Thessaly. 
i,  37. 

Macedonians.the  people  of  Macedon, 

I,  90 ;  II,  53 ;  deserted  to  Pyrrhus, 

II,  26;  Paulus  and  their  wealth, 
II,  76. 

Maelius,  Quintus,  tribune  (321), 
more  probably  tribune-elect,  as 

415 


INDEX 


tribunes  could  not  leave  the  city, 
III,  109. 

Magnificence,  in  the  home,  i,  140. 

Mamercus;  Aemilius  Lepidus  Ma- 
mercus  Livianus,  a  ktnsman  of 
Caesar;  though  defeated  once,  ii, 
58,  he  was  later  (77)  consul. 

Mancia,  Quintus  Mucius,  unknown, 
I,  109. 

Mancinus,  Gaius  Hostilius;  in  his 
consulship  (137)  he  was  defeated 
by  the  Numantines;  his  delivery 
to  the  enemy,  iii,  109. 

Minlius ;  Aulus  Manlius  Capitolinus, 
father  of  Lucius  {g.v.),  iii,  112. 

M  inUus;  Lucius  Manlius  Capitolinus 
Imperiosus;  named  dictator  to 
mark  the  year  (363),  he  used  his 
office  to  engage  in  a  war ;  that  he 
transgressed  but  a  "  few  days  " 
was  due  to  the  intervention  of  the 
tribunes,  iii,  112. 

M  mUus ;  Titus  Manlius  Imperiosus 
Torquatus,  his  son,  a  famous  hero 
of  Roman  story ;  as  consul  at  the 
time  of  the  battle  on  the  Veseris 
he  executed  his  own  son  for  dis- 
obeying  orders,  though  the  dis- 
obedience  won  the  spolia  opima, 
iii,  112. 

Marathon,  a  plain  about  twenty 
miles  north  of  Athens  where  (490) 
Miltiades  and  his  ten  thousand 
deleated  the  hosts  of  Darius,  i, 
61. 

MarceUus,  Marcus  Claudius,  cam- 
paigned  against  Hannibal  in  Italy, 
took  Syracuse  (212),  five  times 
consul,  a  brave  but  cruel  soldier, 
over-praised  by  the  Romans,  i, 
61, 

Marcus ;  iee  Cicero — Marcus  TuUius, 
the  son. 

Marcius;  s«  Philippus. 

Marius,  Gaius  (157-87),  seven  times 
consul ;  gained  his  first  consulship 
dishonourably,  iii,  79,  81;  con- 
quered  Jugurtha  (107);  saved 
Rome  from  the  invading  Clmbri 
(102)  and  Teutons  (101);  a  miU- 
tary  genius,  i,  76;  cruel  and 
selnsh,  he  flooded  the  streets  of 
Rome  with  her  best  blood  in  the 
civil  war  with  Sulla. 

Marius ;  Marcus  Marius  Gratidianus, 
the  son  (or  grandson)  of  Marcus 

416 


Gratidius  whose  sister  married 
Cicero's  grandfather;  adopted  by 
a  kinsman  of  the  great  Marius; 
hence  his  name;  twice  praetor; 
murdered  by  CatiUne  during 
SuUa's  proscriptions,  iii,  67;  his 
unbounded  popularity  in  his  first 
praetorship  (86),  lu,  80-81. 

Mars,  the  god  of  war,  iii,  34. 

Marseilles  (MassiUa),  a  Greek  city 
on  the  southern  coast  of  Gaul, 
independent  of  the  province;  it 
sided  with  Pompey;  Caesar  cap- 
tured  the  city  after  a  protracted 
siege  and  exacted  cruel  vengeance, 
11,28. 

Maximus;  Quintus  Fabius  Maxi- 
mus  Cunctator,  consul  four 
times;  in  his  second  dictatorship 
(217)  he  won  his  sumame  by 
harassing  Hannibal,  watching  his 
plans  and  working  on  the  defen- 
sive,  I,  84, 108. 

Medes,  the  people  of  Media,  a  great 
kingdom  in  central  Asia  Minor 
added  to  Persia  by  Cyrus,  ii,  41. 

Medus,  a  son  of  Medea  and  Aegeus ; 
wandering  in  search  of  his  mother 
he  came  to  Colchis,  where  Medea 
saved  his  Ufe;the  subject  of  a 
tragedy  of  Pacuvius,  i,  114. 

Melanippa,  mother  of  Boeotiis  and 
Aeolus  by  Posidon  (Neptune) ; 
blinded  and  imprisoned  by  her 
father,  she  was  at  last  rescued  by 
her  sons  and  her  sight  was  re- 
stored  by  Posidon;  subject  of  a 
tragedy  of  Ennius,  l,  114. 

Metellus ;  Quintus  Caecilius  MeteUus 
Macedonicus,  won  his  sumamc  by 
his  victories  over  Andriscus  (148) ; 
a  political  rival  and  yet  a  good 
friend  of  the  younger  Scipio,  i,  87. 

Metellus;  Quintus  Caecilius  Metellus 
Numidicus,  nephew  of  the  pre- 
ceding,  statesman  and  soldier; 
as  consul  (109),  carried  on  the  war 
with  Jugurtha  with  distingrished 
success,  III,  79. 

Metrodorus,  of  Lampsacus  (330- 
277),  the  most  distinguished  of  the 
disciples  of  Epicurus;  his  Epi- 
cureanism  was  of  the  grossly  sen- 
sual  sort ;  his  conception  of  bappi- 
ness  misunderstood  by  Cicero, 
ni,  117. 


INDEX 


Milo,  ntus  Annius,  an  unscrupu- 
lous  and  turbulent  fellow;  as  tri- 
bune  (57)  he  did  much  for  Cicero's 
recal!  and  made  a  sworn  enemy  of 
Clodius  {q.v.);  hired  gladiators  to 
force  his  own  election,  ii,  58; 
defended  without  success  by 
Cicero  for  liilling  Clodius. 

Minerva,  goddess  of  tbought,  tem- 
perament,  wit,  i,  97. 

Minos,  son  of  Zeus  (Jupiter)  and 
liing  of  Crete;  because  of  his 
upright  life  he  was  made  judge 
with  Aeacus  (q.v.)  in  Hades,  i, 
97. 

Moderation,  defined,  i,  142. 

Modesty,  1,126-129. 

Mucius ;  see  Scaevola. 

Mummius ;  Lucius  Mummius  Achai- 
cus,  as  consul  (146)  broke  up  the 
Achaean  League,  razed  Corinth 
to  the  ground,  i,  35 ;  ii,  46 ;  carried 
to  Italy  untold  treasuresof  wealth 
and  art,  ii,  76. 

Naples,  the  beautiful  Greek  city  of 

Campania,  i,  33. 
Nasica ;  see  Scipio. 
Neptune,  god  of  the  sea,  i,  32;    ii, 

94. 
New  Academy ;  see  Academy. 
Nicocles,  tyrant  of  Sicyon,  ii,  81. 
Nola,  a  city  in  Campania.  loyal  to 

Rome,  I,  33. 
Norbanus,     Gaius,     tribune     (95), 

impeached   (94)  for  treason,   ii, 

49;consul  (83). 
Numantia,  the  capital  of  Celtiberla, 

razed  to  the  ground  after  a  long 

siege  by  the  younger  Scipio,   i, 

35,  76;  treacherously  treated  bv 

Rome,  iii,  109. 
Numicius,    Tiberius,    colleague    of 

Quintus  Maelius  {q.v.),  iii,  109. 

Oath,  significance  of,  i,  39,  40;  iii, 
102  fg.;  fidelity  to,  i,  39,  40; 
iii,  99-112;  violation  of,  iii,  113 
fg. ;  see  Perjury. 

Octavius,  Gnaeus,  as  praetor  com- 
manded  the  fleet  against  Perseus 
<168)andgained  a  tnumph ;  consul 
(165),  1, 138. 

Octavius,  Marcus,  tribune  (120); 
had  the  com  law  of  Gaius  Grac- 
chus  repealed   and   secured   the 

RE 


passage  of  a  new  and  more  con« 

servative  one,  ii,  72. 
Old  Age,  duties  pecidiar  to,  i,  123; 

worst  vices  of,  i,  123. 
Old  Comedy,  that  of  Aristophanes, 

Cratinus,  Eupolis,  etc,  the  come- 

dy  of  personal  abuse,  i,  104. 
Orata,  Gaius  Sergius  Silus,  praetor 

(97),  III,  67. 
Oratory,   a  division  of  speech,   i, 

132;  divisions  of,  ii,  49;  a  means 

f or  winning  favour,  ii,  48 ;  a  means 

for  service,   ii,  65-71;  a  power 

to  save,  II,  51. 
Orderliness,    defined,    i,    142;    of 

action,  i,  142-145. 
Orestes;   Gnaeus   Aufidius   Orestes 

Aurelianus,  consul  (71),  ii,  58. 

Palamedes,  the  inventor;  exposed 
UIysses's  trick,  iii,  98;  treacher- 
ously  done  to  death  in  revenge. 

Palatine,  the  hill  above  the  forum 
on  the  south;  east  of  the  capital, 
1, 138. 

Panaetius,  of  Rhodes  (180-111  ca.), 
Stoic  philosopher,  disciple  of 
Diogenes  and  Antipater  {q.v.)  at 
Athens,  close  friend  of  Laelius 
{g.v.)  and  Scipio,  i,  90;  ii,  76; 
popularized  philosophy,  ii,  36; 
wrote  a  book  on  moral  duty, 
m,  7;  failed  to  define  duty,  i,  7; 
classification  of  duty,  i,  9 ;  omits 
third  division,  i,  152,  161;  ii,  88; 
reason.j  for  omission,  iii,  7-18,  34 ; 
how  it  would  have  been  met,  iii, 
33 ;  other  omissions,  h,  86 ;  on  co- 
operation,  ii,  16 ;  defends  Iawyer's 
efforts  in  a  bad  case,  ii,  51;  on 
expensive  public  buildings,  ii, 
60;  Cicero's  model,  ii,  60;  iii,  7; 
Hecaton's  teacher,  iii,  63. 

Papius,  Gaius,  as  tribune  (66),  re- 
vived  the  law  of  Pennus  {q.v.), 
Ui,  47. 

Patriotism,  i,  83;  duty  to  country, 
1, 160;  in,  90,  95 ;  to  die  for  coun- 
try,  I,  57;  sacrifice  for,  i,  84; 
III,  100;  right  to  do  wrong  for 
one's  country,  i,  159;  iii,  93,  95. 

Paulus,  Lucius  Aemilius,  consul 
(216),  defeated  and  slain  at 
Cannae,  i,  114. 

Paulus;  Lucius  Aemilius  Paulus 
Macedonicus,  son  of  the  preceding; 

417 


INDEX 


in  his  second  consulship  he  con- 
quered  Perseus  of  Macedon  at 
Pydna  (168)  and  enriched  Rome 
witli  spoils,  II,  76 ;  the  father  of  the 
younger  Africanus,  i,  116, 121. 

Pausanias,  king  of  Sparta,  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  forces  of 
Greece  at  Plataea  (479)  to  the 
glory  of  Sparta,  i,  76. 

Peloponnesian  War,  the  death- 
struggle  of  Athens  with  Sparta 
(431-404),  1,84. 

Peloponnesus,  the  lower  peninsula 
of  Greece,  in  which  Sparta  was 
the  chief  city,  i,  84. 

Pelops,  son  of  Tantalus  and  king  of 
Mycenae,  father  of  Atreus  and 
Thyestes,  iii,  84. 

Pennus,  Marcus  Junius;  as  tribune 
(126)  he  secured  a  law  expelling 
all  foreigners  from  Rome,  iii,  47. 

Pericles,  the  peerless  statesman  of 
Athens,  ii,  16 ;  philosopher,  frien;! 
of  Anaxagoras  and  Socrates ; 
orator  of  mighty  power,  serious 
and  deep,  i,  108;  general,  i,  144; 
his  administration  made  Athens 
unequalled  in  the  splendour  of 
her  public  buildings,  ii,  60. 

Peripatetics,  foUowers  of  Aristotle 
tq.v.),  empiricists,  ii,  16;  students 
of  exact  science;  lack  the  poetry 
and  eloquence  of  Plato  but  not 
very  different  from  the  New 
Acaderay,  i,  2;  iii,  20;  foUowers 
of  Socrates  and  Plato,  i,  2;  their 
right  to  teach  ethics,  i,  6 ;  seek  the 
golden  mean,  1, 89 ;  moral  rectitude 
the  supreme  good,  iii,  11;  moral 
wrong  the  supreme  evil,  iii,  106; 
young  Cicero  their  foUower,  i,  1 ; 
11,8. 

Perjury,  iii,  106-108, 113. 

Perseus,  the  last  king  of  Macedon, 
conquered  by  Paulus  (?.».),  i,  37. 

Persians,  the  people  of  Persia,  the 
great  empire  of  western  Asia;  un- 
der  Darius  they  invaded  Greece 
and  were  beaten  back  at  Marathon 
(490),  I,  61 ;  under  Xerxes  were 
overwhehningly  dcfeated  at  Sala- 
mis  (480),  I,  61;  iii,  48,  49;  and 
at  Plataea  (479),  i,  61. 

Phaedra,  daughter  of  Minos,  wife 
of  Theseus  and  stepraother  of 
Hippolytus  [q.v.),  iii,  94. 

418 


Phaethon,  his  story,  iii,  94. 
Phalaris,  tyrant  of  Agrigentum  (6th 

century),  type  of  inhuman  cru- 

elty,  II,  26;  iii,  29,  32;  slain  in  an 

uprising  of  his  people,  ii,  26 ;  typi- 

cal  of  Caesar. 
Phalerum,  a  deme  of  Attica  on  the 

bay  of  Phalerum,  i,  3;  ii,  60. 
Pherae,  a    town    of    south-eastern 

Thessaly,  the  home  of  Admetus; 

of  Jason,  I,  108;  of  Alexander, 

II,  25. 

Philip,  conqueror,  klng  of  Mace- 
don  (359-336),educated  at  Thebes, 
cultured,  i,  90;  wise,  ii,  48;  elo- 
quent,  tactful  and  firm  in  disci- 
pline,  II,  53. 

Philip,  the  younger,  son  of  Anti- 
gonus  iq.v.),  II,  48. 

Philippus,  Lucius  Marcius,  orator 
second  only  to  Crassus  and 
Antonius,  i,  108;  statesman,  ii, 
59;  as  tribune  (104),  proposed 
agrarian  reforms,  ii,  73;  dis- 
honest  policy  toward  the  Asiatic 
states,  111,87. 

Philippus,  Quintus  Marcius,  father 
of  preceding,  consul  (186  and  169), 
11,59;  111,87. 

Philosophers,  why  righteous,  i,  28; 
attitude  toward  civic  duty,  i,  28 ; 
as  teachers,  i,  155. 

Philosophy,  the  study  of,  i,  1-4; 
theoretical  speculation,  i,  153; 
meaning,  ii,  5;  spirit  of,  ii,  7;  as 
a  discipline,  ii,  4;  worth  while,  ii, 
5  fg. ;  why  Cicero  turned  to  it,  ii, 
2-8;  111,1-6. 

Phintias,  the  friend  of  Damon  (q.v.), 

III,  45. 

Phoenissae,  the  Phoenician  Women, 

a   tragedy  of  Euripides  dealing 

with  the  war  of  the  Seven  against 

Thebes,  iii,  82. 
1'icenum,  state  of  north-east  Italy, 

on  the  Adriatic,  iii,  74. 
['inthia,     Marcus     Lutatius,     un- 

known,  iii,  77. 
Piraeus,  the  great,  landlocked  har- 

bour  of  Athens,  about  five  miles 

from  the  city,  iii,  46. 
Piso;  Lucius  Calpurnius  Piso  Frugi, 

so   surnamed    for   his   integrity; 

author   and   statosraan;    tribune 

(149);  law  against  extortion,   ii, 

76;cousuI(133). 


INDEX 


Plaetorian  Law,  enacted{192),iii,61. 

Plataea,  the  heroic  little  city  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Cithaeron  in 
Boeotia;  alone  with  Athens  at 
Marathon  (490);  the  scene  of  the 
final  defeat  of  the  Persians  in 
Hellas  (479),  i,  61. 

Plato  (429-347),  pupil  and  friend 
of  Socrates,  profound  philoso- 
pher  and  brilhant  author,  i,  22, 
63;  ideal  statesman,  i,  85,  87; 
might  have  been  a  great  orator, 

I,  4;  founder  of  the  Academy 
(^.tr.);  a  great  teacher,  i,  155; 
often  quoted  by  Cicero,  i,  15 
22,  28,  63,  64,  85,  87;  iii,  38,  39. 

Plautus,  Titus  Maccius  (254-184), 
the  greatest  of  Rome's  comic 
poets ;  rich  in  wit,  i,  104. 

Po,  the  great  river  of  Cisalpine 
Gaul,  III,  88. 

Poeni;  see  Carthaginians. 

Polybius,  of  Megalopolis  (204-122), 
president  of  the  Achaean  League, 
detained  at  Rome  in  the  house 
of  Aemilius  Paulus;  friend  of 
Scipio  Aemilianus  and  Laelius; 
author  of  a  history  of  Rome.iii, 
113. 

Pompey;  Gnaeus  Pompeius  Mag- 
nus  (106-48),  warrior,  i,  76; 
(ii,  20;)  poUtician,  the  enemy  of 
Caesar,  the  idol  of  Cicero,  ii,  2; 
conquered  the  pirates,  Sertorians, 
Mithradates,  J  udaea,  i,  78 ;  trium- 
vir;  married  Julia,  iii,  82; 
adorned  Rome  with  great  build- 
ings,  11,  60;  magnificent  shows, 

II,  57;  defeated  at  Pharsalus 
(48),  11,45. 

Pompey;  Quintus  Pompeius  Rufus, 
consul  (141) ;  as  commander  in  the 
war  with  Numantia  (140)  made 
the  unfortunate  peace,  iii,  109. 

Pompey,  Sextus,  cousin  of  Pompey 
the  Great,  Stoic,  scholar,  geo- 
metrician,  i,  19. 

Pomponius,  Marcus,  tribune  (363); 
accuser  of  Lucius  Manlius,  iii,112. 

Pontius,  Gaius,  the  Samnite  general, 
victor  at  the  Caudine  Forks  (321), 
II,  75;  faithlessly  treated,  de- 
feated  (292),  and  executed  in 
Rome. 

Poor,  services  to  the,  ii,  61  fg. ;  their 
gratitude,  ii,  63,  69-71. 


PopiHus  [Marcus  Popilius  Laenas, 
as  consul  (172)  campaigning  in 
Liguria,  i,  36]. 

Popular  esteem,  a  means  to  glory, 
II,  31 ;  how  gained,  n,  44  fg. 

Posidonius,  of  Apamea  (135-51),  a 
Stoic,  disciple  of  Panaetius  at 
Athens,  iii,  8 ;  established  a  school 
at  Rhodes  where  Cicero  studied 
under  him;  later  he  Uved  with 
Cicero  in  Rome ;  author  of  many 
works,  1, 159;  iii,  10. 

Postumius;  Spurius  Postumius  Al- 
binus,  defeated  in  his  second  con- 
sulship  (821)  at  the  Caudine 
Forks,  III,  109. 

Prodicus,  of  Ceos  (fifth  century),  a 
respected  sophist;  his  "  Choice 
of  Hercules,"  i,  118. 

Profession ;  see  Vocation. 

Promises,  non-fulfilment  sometimes 
a  duty,  I,  32 ;  iii,  92-95 ;  sacred 
though  given  to  an  enemy,  i,  39- 
40. 

Property,  private,  how  obtained, 
I,  92;  rights  of,  i,  21;  ii,  73-79, 
85 ;  III,  53 ;  public,  rights  of,  i,  21, 
5L 

Propriety,  defined,  i,  96;  its  rela- 
tions  to  the  Cardinal  Virtues,  i, 
93-100;  poetic,  i,  97;  moral,  i, 
98-99;  conduct  in  accord  with 
personal  endowment,  i,  110-117; 
in  choosing  a  career,  i,  115-121; 
in  outward  appearance,  i,  130; 
in  inward  self-control,  i,  131-132; 
in  speech,  i,  132  fg. ;  in  the  home, 
1, 138-140. 

Propylaea,  the  magnificent  gateway 
to  the  AcropoUs  of  Athens,  built 
(437-431)  by  Pericles  and  Mnesi- 
cles  at  a  cost  of  i(;500,000,  ii,  60. 

Prosecution,  ii,  49;  to  be  rarely 
undertaken,  ii,  50;  a  public  ser- 
vice,  11,  50. 

Prudence ;  see  Wisdom. 

Ptolemy,  Philadelphus  (309-247), 
king  of  Egypt,  patron  of  art  and 
letters,  had  the  Bible  translated; 
vastly  rich,  ii,  82. 

Public  Lands,  private  occupation  to 
be  maintained,  i,  21. 

Public  Service,  as  a  career,  i,  70  fg. ; 
as  a  duty,  i,  72 ;  as  an  honour,  i, 
73;  free  from  partisanship,  i,  85- 
86 ;  self-seeking,  i,  87 ;  vindictlve- 

419 


INDEX 


ness,  I,  88;  anger,  i,  89;  guided 
by  wisdoin,  i,  155-156. 

Public  shows,  extravagant  expendi- 
tures,  II,  55-60;  expected  of  an 
aedile,  ii,  57-60. 

Pulcher,  Gaius  Claudius,  son  of 
Appius,  aedile  (99),  ii,  57;  consul 
(92). 

Public  Wars ;  see  Carthage. 

Pyrrho,  of  Elis  (fourth  century), 
founder  of  the  school  of  the  Scep- 
tics;  held  that  virtue  is  the  only 
good,  that  truth  and  Ijnowledge 
are  unattainable;  his  ethical 
theories  rejected,  i,  6. 

Pyrrhus  (318-272),  king  of  Epirus, 
descended  from  Achilles  and 
Aeacus,  i,  38 ;  a  daring  soldier  and 
a  gallant  enemy,  i,  38;  a  career 
of  adventure  and  conquest,  i, 
38;  in,  86;  invaded  Italy  (280- 
275);  the  story  of  the  poisoner, 
1,  40;  III,  86;  (see  also  Fabricius); 
invaded  Macedonia  (273)  and  the 
enemy's  troops  joined  him,  ll,  26 ; 
killed  in  Argos  (272). 

Pythagorean,  a  follower  of  Pythag- 
oras  or  member  of  his  secret 
fraternity,  i,  155 ;  iii,  45. 

Pythagoras,  of  Samos  (sixth  cen- 
tury),  studied  in  the  Orient, 
great  mathematician ;  moral  and 
religious  teacher;  serious,  ascetic, 
I,  108;  taught  transmigration  of 
souls;  founded  a  secret  brother- 
hood  of  ideal  friendship,  i,  56; 
asceticism  was  the  rule  of  prac- 
tice,  with  deep  meditation  and 
lofty  aspiration. 

Pythian,  epithet  of  Apollo,  from 
Pytho,  another  name  for  Delphi, 
n,  77. 

Pythius,  of  Syracuse,  his  dis- 
honesty,  iii,  58. 

Quirinus,  the  Sabine  name  for  thc 
deified  Romulus,  iii,  41. 

Recklessness,  to  be  avoided,  i,  81, 
83. 

Regulus,  Marcus  Atilius,  a  favourite 
hero  of  old  Rome  ;  consul  (267 
and  256),  annihilated  the  Car- 
thaginian  fleet,  took  many  towns, 
was  finally  (256)  defeated  and 
taken   prisoner,    i,    39;    iii,   99; 

420 


his  famous  emoassy  and  tne  ethics 
of  his  conduct,  iii,  99-115. 

Remus,  twin  brother  of  Romulus, 
slain  for  leaping  in  derision  over 
the  new  walls  of  Rome,  in,  41. 

Reproof,  how  administered,  i,  136. 

Republic,  the  Roman;  its  glory,  ii, 
2;  the  protectorate  of  the  world, 

II,  27;  its  downfall,  i,  35;  ii,  2-5, 
29,  65;  III,  2,  4,  83;  the  tyraufs 
sway,  II,  23-29;  iii,  81-85;  en- 
slaved,  iii,  84-85. 

Retirement,  the  life  of,  i,  69-70. 
Rhodes,  a  large  island  off  the  coast 

of  Caria,  iii,50. 
Rhodian,  a  native  of  Rhodcs,  iii, 

50,  57;  111,63. 
Riches,  the  object  of  acquiring,  i, 

25 ;  proper  use  of ,  i,  68 ;  compared 

with  virtue,  iii,  24  (s<<WeaIth). 
Roman,  of  or  belonging  to  Rome, 

III,  58;  people,  i,  33;  iii,  79, 
83-86,  105,  109,  114;  the  peoplc 
of  Rome,  ii,  75;  celebrated  for 
courage,  i,  61;  champion  of  jus- 
tice,  I,  36;  ii,  26;  hatred  of 
tyranny  and  injustice,  iii,  19; 
atonement  for  tyranny  and  injus- 
tice,  II,  27-29;  their  enslavement, 
111,85-86. 

Rome,  the  capital  of  the  Empire 
and  mistress  of  the  world,  i,  39, 
40;iii,  73,  79,  99,  112, 113. 

Romulus,  the  mythical  king,  founder 
of  Rome,  iii,  40;  builder  of  its 
walls ;  not  justified  in  slaying  his 
brother,  iii,  41. 

Roscius,  Sextus,  of  Ameria,  ac- 
cused  by  Chrysogonus,  a  freed- 
man  of  Sulla's,  of  murdering  his 
father;  bravely  and  successfully 
defended  by  Cicero  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six,  ii,  51. 

Rupilius,  an  actor  otherwise  un- 
known,  i,  114. 

Rutilius;  Publius  Rutilius  Rufus,  a 
disciple  of  Publius  Scaevola,  ii, 
47;  of  Panaetius,  lii,  10;  with 
Quintus  Scaevola  in  Asia  he  re- 
pressed  the  extortion  of  the  pub- 
licans,  was  banished,  and  de- 
voted  his  life  to  philosophy  and 
literature,  iii,  10. 

Sabine,  belonging  to  the  province 
ol  central  Italy,  iii,  74;  the  Sa- 


INDEX 


bines,  unfriendly  to  Rome  till 
subdued  and  added  to  the  empire 
(290),  I,  35,  38. 

Sacred  Laws;  the  Leges  Sacratae, 
laws  for  the  violation  of  wbich 
the  oflfender  was  nominally  con- 
secrated  to  some  god — i.e.,  laden 
with  acurse,  iii,  111. 

Salamis,  the  island  and  straits 
directly  in  front  of  the  Piraeus 
{q.v.),  where  (480)  Themistocles 
and  the  allied  Greeks  virtually 
annihilated  the  fleets  of  Persia, 
1,61,75. 

Sale,  fraud  in  sale  of  real  estate, 
III,  54-64;  laws  concerning,  iii, 
65-71  ;ofslaves,  iii,  71-72. 

Salmacis,  a  fountain  (and  nymph) 
at  Halicamassus,  whose  waters 
made  men  who  drank  them  weak 
and  eflfeminate,  i,  61. 

Samnites,  the  brave,  liberty-loving 
people  of  Samnium,  a  province 
of  south-central  Italy;  after 
seventy-one  years  (343-272)  of 
war  with  Rome  admitted  to  citi- 
zenship,  i,  38;  famous  for  their 
victory  at  the  Caudine  Forks,  iii, 
109;  Gaius  Pontius,  ii,  75. 

Sanitation ;  see  Health. 

Sardinia,  the  large  island  north  of 
Sicily,  made  a  province  (238), 
misgoverned,  ii,  50. 

Satrius;  Marcus  Minucius  Basilus 
Satrianus,  adopted  by  Lucius 
Minucius  Basilus,  his  inherit- 
ance,  iii,  74. 

Scaevola,  Publius  Mucius,  father  of 
the  pontifex  maximus,  consul 
(133)  and  friend  of  Tiberius 
Gracchus,  an  expert  in  the  ponti- 
fical  law,  II,  47. 

Scaevola,  Quintus  Mucius,  the 
Augur,  son  of  the  preceding,  son- 
in-Iaw  of  Laelius,  friend  of  Afri- 
canus,  consul  (117),  preceptor 
to  Cicero ;  simple  in  his  greatness, 
I,  109. 

Scaevola,  Quintus  Mucius,  the 
Pontifex  Maximus,  son  of  Pub- 
lius,  preceptor  of  Cicero;  orator, 
jurist ;  authority  on  the  civil  law, 
his  business  honour,  iii,  62,  70; 
followed  his  father's  calling,  i, 
116;  magnificent  aedileship,  ii, 
57 ;  consul  (96),  m,  47. 


Scaurus,  Marcus  Aemilius,  consul 
(115) ;  partisan  rather  than  states- 
man,  i,  76;  ambassador  to  Jugur- 
tha  (112),  notorious  corruptionist, 
but  loyal  aristocrat;  hence  Cice- 
ro's  praise,  i,  108. 

Scaurus,  Marcus  Aemilius,  son  of 
the  preceding,  step-son  of  SuIIa, 
aedile  (68)  with  extraordinary 
magnificence,  ii,  57;  governor  of 
Sardinia  (56),  which  he  plundered 
outrageously ;  successfully  de- 
fended  by  Cicero  and  Horten- 
sius;  later  (52)  condemned  and 
banished,  i,  138;  palace  on  the 
Palatine,  i,  138. 

Scipio,  Gnaeus  Cornelius,  brother 
of  Publius  {see  foUowing) ;  consul 
(222)  with  Marcus  Marcellus; 
with  Publius  in  Spain  (217-211); 
a  gallant  soldier,  i,  61 ;  iii,  16. 

Scipio,  Publius  Cornelius,  brother 
of  Gnaeus  and  father  of  the  eldcr 
Africanus,  l,  121 ;  consul  (218), 
defeated  by  Hannibal  at  the 
Ticinus;  waged  war  in  Spain 
(217-211);  a  gallant  soldier,  i, 
61 ;  iii,  16. 

Scipio;  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio 
Africanus  Major  (234-183),  the 
son  of  Publius,  i,  121 ;  grandfather 
of  the  Gracchi,  ii,  80;  defeatcd 
Hannibal  at  Zama  (202)  and 
closed  the  war;  never  idle  in  his 
zeal  for  Rome,  iii,  1-4. 

Scipio,  Publius  Cornelius,  son  of 
Africanus  Major,  adoptive  father 
of  Africanus  Minor;  gifted  men- 
tally  but  physically  disqualified 
for  an  active  career,  i,  121. 

Scipio;  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio 
Aemilianus  Africanus  Minor,  son 
of  Aemilius  Paulus  Macedonicus, 

I,  116,  121;  adopted  son  of  Pub- 
lius  Africanus's  son,  i,  121 ;  friend 
and  pupil  of  Panaetius,  i,  90 ;  in- 
timate  friend  of  Laelius  {g.v.)  and 
devoted  to  literature;  serious, 
earnest,  i,  108;  self-control,  ii, 
76;  a  great  soldier,  i,  76,  116; 
at  Pydna  (168)  with  his  father; 
captured  and  destroyed  Carthage 
(136)  and  Numantia  (133),  i,  35; 

II,  76;  statesman  of  high  ideals, 
a  bitter  rival  and  yet  a  friend  o 
Quintus  Metellus,  i,  87. 

421 


INDEX 


Scipio;  Publius  Comelius  Scipio 
Nasica  Serapio,  known  cLiefly  as 
the  man  who  led  the  riot  and  mur- 
dered  Tiberius  Gracchiis,  i,  76, 
109. 

Scipio;  Publius  Cornelius  Scipio 
Nasica,  son  of  the  preceding; 
died  in  his  consulship  (111);  a 
charming  gentleman  and  a  bril- 
liant  speaker,  i,  109. 

Secret  sin,  ii,  37  fg. 

Seius,  Marcus,  reduced  the  price  of 
corn  and  rc^;ained  his  lost  popu- 
larity,  ii,  58. 

Self-control;  s««  Temperance. 

Self-sacrifice,  rii,  25 ;  of  Regulus,  iii, 
97-115. 

Sergius,  Gaius ;  see  Orata. 

Sicily,  the  great  island  south-west 
of  Italy,  fertile  and  rich,  occupied 
along  the  coasts  by  prosperous 
Greek  colonies,  a  Roman  province 
(212  on),  an  easy  prey  for  rapa- 
cious  governors,  as  Verres  whom 
Cicero  prosecuted  (70),  ii,  50. 

Sicyon,  a  city  near  Corinth,  famous 
as  a  centre  of  art ;  Aratus  and  the 
tyranny,  ii,  81-82. 

Silanus,  Decimus  Junius,  stepfather 
of  Marcus  Brutus,  consul  (62), 
aedile,  ii,  57. 

Slaves,  duty  toward,  i,  41;  iii,  89. 

Social  Instinct,  man  and  beast,  i, 
12,  50;  bees,  i,  157;  leads  to  jus- 
tice,  I,  157;  weighed  against  jus- 
tice,  1, 159  fg. 

Society,  principles  of,  i,  50-57;  iii, 
53 ;  rights  of,  i,  21 ;  service  to,  i, 
153,155. 

Socrates  (469-399),  the  great  philo- 
sopher  and  teacher,  ii,  43;  his 
ethics,  III,  11,  77;  his  perfect 
poise,  I,  90 ;  brilliant  dialectician, 
with  a  profound  meaning  in  every 
word,  I,  108;  personal  eccen- 
tricities,  i,  148.  "The  noblest, 
ay,  and  the  wisest  and  most 
righteous  man  that  we  have 
ever  known." 

Socratic,  following  Socrates,  i,  104, 
134 ;  II,  87 ;  most  schools  of  philo- 
sophy  are  based  on  the  teaching 
of  Socrates — the  Academy,  i,  2; 
the  Peripatetic,  i,  2;  iii,  20;  the 
Cynic,  i,  128;  the  Cyrenaic,  iii, 
116 ;  the  Stoic,  i,  6 ;  etc, 

422 


Sol,  the  sun-god,  father  of  Phaeth<.in, 
iii,  94. 

Solon,  the  great  lawgiver  of  Athens 
(638-558  ca.),  poet,  soldier,  states- 
man ;  his  feigned  madness  and  the 
acquisition  of  Salamis,  i,  108 ;  his 
constitution  and  the  reorganized 
Areopagus,  i,  75. 

Sophocles,  the  great  tragic  poet 
(495-406),  supreme  on  the  Athe- 
nian  stage  (468-441);  general  in 
the  war  against  Samos  (440),  i, 
144. 

Sparta,  capital  of  Lacedaemon  in 
the  south-eastern  part  of  the 
Peloponnesus,  iii,  99;  constitu- 
tion  of  Lycurgus,  i,  76;  national 
character,  i,  64;  position  at  end 
of  Persian  wars,  i,  76;  at  end  of 
Peloponnesian  war,  i,  76;  her 
arsenal,  m,  49;  disasters,  i,  84; 
despotic,  II,  26 ;  cause  of  her  fall, 
II,  77,  80. 

Stoics,  adherents  of  the  school 
founded  by  Zeno,  an  offshoot 
from  Cynicism,  i,  128;  refounded 
by  Chrysippus;  philosophy  with 
them  is  practical,  making  life 
accord  with  Nature's  laws,  iii, 
13;  virtue  and  philosophy  are 
identical;  virtue  the  only  good,  i, 
6;  III,  11,  12;  moral  wrong  the 
only  evil,  iii,  106;  pain  no 
evil,  III,  105 ;  no  degrees  of  right 
or  viTong,  I,  10;  etymologists, 
I,  23;  define  fortitude,  i,  62; 
temperance,  i,  142;  duties,  iii, 
14;  controversies,  iii,  91;  their 
right  to  teach  ethics,  i,  6; 
Cicero  adopts  their  teach.ing, 
I,  6;  III,  20;  common  interests, 
I,  22 ;  their  theology  a  pantheistic 
materialism,  God  working  in  his 
providence,  iii,  102;  repre- 
sentative  Stoics,  ii,  61,  80;  iii, 
51. 

Sulla;  Lucius  Comelius  SuIIa  Felix 
(138-78),  noble,  profligate,  bril- 
liant  genius;  would  stoop  to 
anything,  i,  109;  soldier  against 
Jugurtha,  Mithradates,  Marius, 
Rome;  statesman;  reformed  the 
constitution ;  absolute  monarch  of 
Rome  (81-79) ;  treatment  of  trib- 
utary  allies,  ni,  87;  confiscator, 
i,  43;  ir,  29;  ovcrturned  the  old 


INDEX 


morals,    ii,   27;   Cicero   opposed 

him,  II,  51. 
SuUa,  Publius  Cornelius,  nephew  of 

the  dictator,  ii,  29;  defended  by 

Cicero  on  charge  of  complicity 

in  Catiline's  conspiracy. 
Sulla,  Cornelius,  a  freedman  of  the 

dictator,  ii,  29. 
Sulpicius;    Gaius    Sulpicius    Galus, 

consul  (166) ;  famous  astronomer, 

I,  19;  predicted  an  eclipse  of  the 

moon. 
Sulpicius;  Publius  Sulpicius  Rufus 

(124-88),    an   eminent   orator   of 

little  character,  ii,  49. 
Sungod ;  see  SoL 
Superbus ;  see  Tarquin. 
Syracuse,    a   great    Greek   city    in 

south-eastern  Sicily,  rich   in   art 

and  in  goods;  ruled  by  Dioii,   i, 

155;  Dionysius,  ii,  25;  iii,  45;  a 

popular  resort,  iii,  58. 

Tantalus,  son  of  Zeus  (Jupiter)  and 
father  of  Pelops  {q.v.),  iii,  84. 

Tarquin;  Lucius  Tarquinius  Super- 
bus,  the  last  king  of  Rome  (535- 
510),  a  cruel  tyrant,  expelled  by 
Brutus  and  CoUatinus,  iii,  40. 

Tarquins,  the  kinsmen  of  Tar- 
quinius  Superbus,  all  expelled 
(510),  III,  40. 

Taxation,  levying  of,  ii,  74. 

Ternperance,  the  fourth  Cardinal 
Virtue,  I,  93-151;  definition,  i, 
93;  the  passions,  i,  102;  speech, 
I,  103;  vs.  Justice,  i,  159-160;  es- 
sential  to  success;  ii,  77;  vs. 
apparent  Expedioncy,  iii,  116  fg. 

Terence;  Publius  Terentius  Afer 
(195-159),  a  comic  poet,  friend 
of  Laelius  and  Scipio;  six  plays 
are  left;  quotation  from  the 
Heauton  Timorumenus,  i,  30;  the 
Eunuchus,  i,  150. 

Tliebe,  daughter  of  Jason  and  wife 
of  Alexander  of  Pherae,  ii,  25. 

Thebes,  the  capital  of  Boeotia, 
home  of  Pindar  and  Epaminon- 
das,  1, 155. 

Themistocles,  brilliant  statesman 
of  Athens,  n,  16;  gave  Athens 
her  fleet  and  saved  Greece  at 
Salamis  (480),  i,  75;  consummate 
general,  i,  108;  not  always  scru- 
pulous  in  his  metbods,   iii,  49; 


his  valuation  of  character,  ii, 
71. 

Theophrastus,  of  Lesbos,  favourite 
pupil  and  successor  of  Aristotle, 
a  marvellous  teacher,  master  of 
Demetrius  of  Phalerum,  i,  3;  a 
prolific  author;  cited,  ii,  56,  64. 

Theopompus,  of  Chios  (fourth  cen- 
tury),  pupil  of  Isocrates,  orator 
and  historian,  ii,  40. 

Thermopylae,  a  narrow  pass  on  the 
seashore  between  Thessaly  and 
Locris,  held  by  Leonidas  and  his 
three  hundred  against  the  hosts  of 
Xerxes  (480),  i,  61. 

Theseus,  the  great  legendary  hero  of 
Athens,  benefactor  of  the  world; 
uniter  of  Athens  and  Attica; 
father  of  Hippolytus  {q.v.)  by 
Antiope;  husband  of  Phaedra; 
his  son's  death,  i,  32 ;  iii,  94. 

Thrace,  the  vast  country  north  of 
the  Aegean;  though  the  home  of 
Orpheus,  Linus,  etc,  it  was  gener- 
ally  considered  barbarous,  ii,  25. 

Thyestes,  son  of  Pelops  and  brother 
of  Atreus  {q.v.),  (iii,  102). 

Timotheus,  admiral  of  the  Athenian 
fleet  (378-356),  compared  with  his 
father  Conon,  i,  116. 

Torquatus ;  see  Manlius. 

Trades;  see  Vocation. 

Troezen,  a  city  of  Argolis,  near  the 
shore  opposite  Aegina ;  the  asylura 
of  the  Athenians  at  the  approach 
of  Xerxes,  iii,  48. 

Trusts,  when  not  to  be  restored,  iii, 
95. 

Truth,  the  search  af ter,  i,  13. 

Tubero,  Quintus  Aelius,  the  Stoic, 
a  pupil  of  Panaetius,  praetor 
(123);  a  talented  jurist,  iii,  63. 

Tusculum,  a  town  in  the  Alban  hills, 
the  oldest  municipium  in  Italy, 
admitted  (381),  i,  35 ;  public  lands 
of,  1,  21 ;  Cicero's  favourite  coun- 
try  home. 

Twelve  Tables.the  laws  of,  drawn  up 
(450) ;  quoted,  i,  37 ;  iii,  111. 

Tyranny,  ii,  23-29 ;  inspired  by  false 
perspective,  iii,  36 ;  right  and  duty 
toward  the  tyrant,  iii,  19,  85. 

Tyre,  the  great  commercial  city  on 
the  coast  of  Phoenice,  ii,  86. 

Ulysses  (Odysseus),  son  of  Laerte» 
423 


INDEX 


of  Ithaca,  the  shrewdest  of  the 
Greek  heroes  at  Troy,  iii,  97  •  the 
hero  of  the  Odyssey,  i,  113     ' 

Varro,  Gaius  Terentius,  consul  (216) 
with  Paulus,  responsible  for  the 
disaster  at  Cannae,  iii,  114. 

Venus  (Aphrodite),  the  goddess  of 
beauty  and  love;  of  Cos,  iii    10 

Vesens,  a  little  stream  near  Mount 
Vesuvius;  scene  of  the  battle  of 
Manlius  Torquatus  and  the  elder 
Decius,  III,  li2. 

Veturius;  Titus  Vcturius  Calvinus, 
consul  with  Spurius  Postumius 
(321)  at  the  Caudine  Forlcs,  m, 

Vice,  luxurious  living,  i,  123;  sen- 
sual  pleasure,  i,  102,  104-106 
122-123;  II,  37;  avarice,  11  77- 
extravagance,  i,  140;  mlsrepre- 
seatation,  i,  150;  untruth,  i,  150; 
corrected  by  obsorving  others  i' 
146;  by  the  criticisra  of  the  wise. 
1, 147. 

Viriathus,  11,  40. 

Vi  tue,  defined,  11,  ig;  chief 
function  of,  11,  17;  the  four  Car- 
dinal  Virtues  described,  i,  15-17; 
the  sources  of  moral  rectitude,  i' 
152;  III,  96;  Nature's  leadings  to, 
I,  100;  endangered  by  sensual 
pleasure,  11,  37;  rulers  chosen  for 
n,  41.  ' 

V)cation,  choice  of,  i,  115-120- 
change  of,  i,  120-121;  vulgar  and 
liberal,  i,  150-152. 

Volscians,  a  people  of  lower  Latium 
subdued  (303),  given  full  citizeii- 
ship  (188),  I,  35. 

War,  rights  of,  to  be  enforced,  1, 34 ; 


Cato's  son,  i,  36-37;  excuse  foi 
war,  I,  35,  80;  justice  in  war,  i 
38;  war  for  supremacy,  i,  38;  foi 
glory,   I,  38;  needless  cruelty,   i 

Wealth,  Theophrastus  on,  11,  56 ;  in- 
satiable  thirst  for,  i,  25-  why 
sought,  I,  25-27;  the  real  good  o) 
wealth,  II,  56 ;  see  Riches. 

Wisdom,  the  first  of  the  Cardinal 
Virtues,  1, 15-19;  most  important, 
I,  153;  11,  6;  absolute,  iii,  16;  and 
propriety,  i,  94,  100;  vs.  Justice, 
I,  152-157,  160;  confounded  with 
cunning,  11,  10;  iii,  72,  96;  in 
Epicurus'ssystem,  iii,  117. 

Wit,  kinds  of,  i,  103-104 ;  representa- 
tives  of,  1, 108. 

Xanthippus,  a  Spartan  soldier  01 
fortune,  whose  generalship  de- 
feated  Regulus,  iii,  99. 

Xenocrates,  of  Chalcedon  (396-314), 
a  pupil  of  Plato,  president  of  the 
Academy,  industrious  and  severe. 
1, 109. 

Xenophon,  soldier,  historian,  dis- 
ciple  of  Socrates,  11,  87 ;  the  story 
of  Hercules's  choice,  i,  118. 

Xerxes,  king  of  Persia  (485-46:-)), 
son  of  Darius,  invaded  Gretre 
(480),  came  to  grief  at  Salamis 
and  Plataea,  iii,  48. 

Youth,  duties  peculiar  to,  i,  123; 
II,  52;  time  for  choosing  pro- 
fession,  i,  117. 

Zeno,  of  Cytium  (fourth  century), 
pupil  of  Crates  the  Cynic  and 
founder  of  the  Stoic  school  (see 
Stoics),  III,  35. 


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